Head of the Observation Mission of OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), former Foreign Minister of Slovenia Boris Frlec will arrive in Baku on September 1.
OSCE Office in Baku told APA that seven more observers of the mission would also come to Azerbaijan along with Boris Frlec. Long-term observers will officially start activity as from September 7 and their number will reach 30 by the elections.
The number of OSCE observers on the day of election will make up 460. They will observe the process in all the regions of the republic. /APA/

Azerbaijani opposition Civil Solidarity party (CSP) has appealed to Mazahir Panahov, Chairman of the Central Election Commission (CEC). Our representatives, who were sent to District Election Commissions (DEC) are not allowed to be elected to the Secretariat. However, the representatives, who are close to the ruling New Azerbaijan party (NAP) are elected to the organization. If the process will not be prevented, we will recall our representatives from DEC,” MP Sabir Rustamkhanli, Chairman of CSP, told Trend News on 29 August.
Under the Election Code, the composition of election commissions are formed from representatives of parties, which representative majority (NAP), minority and from neutral MPs. For this reason the opposition Musavat party, which is united in the parliamentary minority, did not send its representatives to CEC, and the formation of DEC has not been completed so far.
According to Rustamkhanli, a condition was created for parties which make up minority in the Parliament, approximately after two years; to send their representatives to DEC. CSP has sent 42 representatives to DEC. However, the representatives are not allowed to be elected to DEC Secretariat. “CSP is represented in the Parliament with three MPs. Two MPs are the members of the Azerbaijani delegation to PACE. I cannot understand such a relation. The Government should be interested in the opposition to be represented in Secretariat,” Rustamkhanli added.
Azar Sariyev, Head of CEC press-service, told Trend News that the position of CSP representatives does not show the reality. “All parties, which are minority, will participate in the elections. CEC cannot force CSP members to appoint to DEC Secretariat. The places allocated to Musavat representatives will remain free,” Sariyev said.
The CSP was founded by a leader of the Azerbaijan National Liberation Movement in 1992. The party took part in the parliamentary elections of 1995, 2000, 2005, and presidential elections of 2003, municipal elections of 1999, 2004. Azerbaijan national poet, MP Sabir Rustamkhanli, was Azerbaijani Press and Information Minister from 1991 to 1995 and ran for presidency in 2003. /Trend/

MP Fazil Gazanfaroglu, chairman of the Great Establishment party (GDP) and presidential contender, rejects the information of the Government renders its assistance to him to hold signature collection campaign. “Why the Government should assist us to collect signatures? Simply, there are some parties, which will not participate in the elections, well informed of our force, and for this reason they have to use our names,” Gazanfaroglu told Trend News.
Some opposition sources released the information of the Government assists certain candidates in collection of signatures.
Gazanfaroglu noted that the governmental departments, on the contrary, hinders in some cases to hold the signature collection campaign. “We implement the campaign at our own expenses. We hold transparent campaign and CEC will appreciate our efforts finally,” Gazanfaroglu said. So far, GDP has succeeded to collect only 38,000 signatures. We plan to collect additional 6,000 or 7,000 signatures. We will finish the campaign the next week and submit the document to CEC,” Gazanfaroglu stated. /Trend/

Soon the Ministry of Justice of Azerbaijan will register the oppositional Open Society Party.
“We have repeatedly met with the responsible persons of the Ministry and were assured that this question will be decided soon,” activist of OSP, Yagub Abbasov, told TrendNews on 29 August.
OSP was founded in April 2007. Ex-speaker of Azerbaijani Parliament, Rasul Guliyev, was the leader of the opposition Open Society Party. From 2000 to the February of 2007 Guliyev was the chairman of the Democratic Party of Azerbaijan (DPA). Guliyev’s supporters left DPA, held their congress and founded the Open Society Party.
According to Abbasov, the documents necessary for party’s registration have been submitted to the Ministry more than one year ago. /Trend/

Gudrat Hasanguliyev, the chairman of the Whole Azerbaijan People’s Front Party (WAPFP) and other members held several meetings with the leaders of the international organizations’ Baku offices, the WAPFP press service told the APA. The first meeting was held in the Baku office of the US International Republicans Institute (IRI).
The WAPFP officials and IRI experts discussed several issues related to the presidential elections. Then the party members met with Arien de Wolf, the head of the US National Democratic Institute Baku office.
/APA/

The office of CIS Observation Mission that will follow the presidential elections in Azerbaijan on October 15 will be officially opened on September 16, member of the office Oleg Kuleba told APA.
He said that three members of the office would start work on September 14, later other members of the office, as well as the observers accredited from CIS embassies in Baku would join the process and the number of long-term observers will reach 25-30. 250 people are expected to observe the elections on the day of voting. Oleg Kuleba said that the office will have several departments in the regions of Azerbaijan.
Head of elections department of CIS Executive Committee Yevgeni Sloboda will lead the office and CIS Executive Secretary Sergey Lebedev will lead the Observation Mission.
/APA/

The opposition Azerbaijani Democratic Party (ADP) believes that negotiations to establish a new union of opposition pursue private interests. “It is obvious that negotiations to establish new cooperation format of opposition pursue corporate interests,” Gurban Mammadov, member of the party’s Supreme Assembly, told Trend News on 28 August.
The Azadlig bloc Board of Chairmen made a decision in its meeting last week to establish a cooperation centre of the parties, which refused to join the presidential elections. Fuad Mustafayev, the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan functionary, was authorized to negotiate on behalf of the bloc in this direction. It was decided to consider the upcoming presidential elections as illegitimate during the negotiations of the parties boycotting the elections.
It is sheer lunacy to announce the elections as illegitimate now, Mammadov said. “The elections should take place and only then it can be assessed,” he said. The member of the ADP Supreme Assembly said that his party did not join the new cooperation centre of opposition and it meant that this unification did not reflect a real opposition.
“Developments in last years proved that unification of the opposition is impossible without the ADP. Should the ADP does not join this union, nobody will seriously approach to the new cooperation centre,” Mammadov said.
According to Mammadov, the ADP is interested in the establishment of sincere union. “The opposition should not lay down any condition to establish new alliance of the opposition. It is necessary to come to terms and to form such union,” Mammadov said.
/Trend/

The second stage of enlightenment program for voters, members of elections sub-commissions and other elections figures will begin on 2 September through the Azerbaijani Public Television and official newspapers. “Members of the Central Elections Commission (CEC) will make different reports on the topics, including applications on withdraw registration, as well as announcement of outcome of the elections, at this stage,” the CEC told Trend News on 28 August.
According to the CEC, the first stage of enlightenment program for members of the elections sub-commissions and other elections figures has begun at the beginning of August. The first stage of the CEC program, which is being realized through the Public Television and official newspapers, is under completion and the CEC is going to launch the second stage of this program.
/Trend/

Azerbaijani opposition electorate will support the chairman of the Supreme Assembly of the opposition Popular Front party of Azerbaijan (PFPA) Gulamhuseyn Alibayli, in the upcoming presidential elections. “I do not want to call names. These people will invest certain sum into the election fund and help me to prepare to the elections,” Alibayli told Trend News on 28 August.
Alibayli said that opposition party activists will assist him to collect the necessary 40,000 signatures. “I have already collected 20,000 signatures. Insignificant incident on the issue had happened twice in Masalli and Gadabay regions,” Alibayli said. Alibyli believes tat he will manage to collect the necessary signatures and intends to establish an election bloc.
/Trend/

Mais Gulaliyev, the Azerbaijani Greens Party’s presidential candidate and co-chairman of the party, will submit signature lists to the Central Elections Commission at the end of week, the party told Trend News on 27 August. The CEC officially registered the candidature of President Ilham Aliyev, the chairman of the ruling New Azerbaijan Party (NAP).
According to the Greens Party, signature collecting campaign is nearing to completion. More than 40,000 signatures were collected at 65 constituencies. At present they are being verified at the party. In accordance with the schedule of the party’s Elections staff, it is expected to collect about 45,000 signatures by the end of August.

The left opposition Social-Democratic party of Azerbaijan (SDPA) has stated that it would not participate in establishment of the opposition parties union, which intends to boycott the presidential elections.
“Establishment of opposition parties union will not have results. At present, establishment of such an organization seems impossible,” Araz Alizade, co-chairman of SDPA, told Trend News.
Alizade said that his party had not received an appeal to join the opposition union.
“SDPA does not take part in similar organizations.

The Chairman of Umid (Hope) Party Igbal Agazade met with the chief of US National Democratic Institute (NDI) Arien de Wolf, Press Service of the Party told the APA. During the meeting, A. Wolf took interest in amendments and supplements to the Election Code of Azerbaijan, the Party’s attitude toward the election process and some other issues related to the election campaign.