Azernews.Az

BAKU – The OSCE Baku Office announced Thursday a number of principles to help ensure equitable media coverage ahead of Azerbaijan’s November parliamentary elections, following discussions at a roundtable event with political parties earlier this week, the office said.

The OSCE said more than three hours per week of unpaid air time should be offered to political parties and candidates on both public television and public radio during the election campaign period. One third of this time should be allocated for debates and the rest for the candidates.

It also said opportunities to participate in news programs, live forums, talk shows and other programming should be offered to representatives from all political parties on a non-discriminatory basis. Nationwide and regional private television channels should be encouraged to participate in the election campaign period and provide air time.

A relevant article of the Election Code should be repealed to allow the state television channel AzTV to offer air time during the election campaigns.

The OSCE Baku Office said it was ready to assist in implementing these recommendations.

Parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan are scheduled for November 7. The elections are held by the majority of votes system in 125 constituencies.