Azernews.Az

BAKU – The bloc of Azerbaijan’s two main opposition parties has said it does not recognize the parliamentary poll held Sunday and demanded a re-run of the elections.

The statement was made by the leaders of the Azerbaijan Popular Front Party and Musavat at a joint press conference Monday.

Musavat chairman Isa Gambar said the bloc considers as illegitimate a parliament formed on the basis of what he called a rigged election. He said the opposition was preparing to file lawsuits over the alleged electoral fraud.

APFP leader Ali Karimli claimed that Sunday’s vote undermines people’s confidence in the possibility of changing their government through elections.

"Only 15 percent of the population participated at yesterday’s elections. If so few people in the country go to the polls, this means they don’t believe elections can change anything."

Karimli believes that the latest poll was even more undemocratic than the previous elections held in Azerbaijan.

The APFP-Musavat bloc claimed in a statement that there was no environment of equal rivalry in the run-up to the elections, pressure on independent media continued, and legislative framework for conducting a democratic vote was not ensured. APFP-Musavat also alleged that government-controlled electoral commissions were refusing to register opposition candidates under various pretexts, thus securing a parliamentary majority for the ruling party’s representatives. The statement also said candidates did not enjoy equal conditions of pre-election campaigning.

According to official tallies, the ruling Yeni (New) Azerbaijan Party swept the poll, while the APFP-Musavat bloc, which ran for the election with 37 candidates, failed to gain any seats in the legislature.