- Title: AZERBAIJAN: AZERBAIJAN PREPARE TO ELECT NEW PARLIAMENT
- Date: 10th November 1995
- Summary: BAKU, AZERBAIJAN (NOVEMBER 10-11, 1995) (RTV - ACCESS ALL) (NOVEMBER 11, 1995) 1. GV WIDE VIEW OF BAKU WITH SEASHORE, MOSQUE 0.07 2. GV/LV OFFSHORE OIL RIGS (2 SHOTS) 0.18 3. SLV SCHOOL BUILDING WITH SIGN, NUMBER 15 ELECTORAL DISTRICT 0.24 4. MCU POSTER FOR PRESIDENT HAYDAR ALIYEV'S NEW AZERBAIJAN PARTY 0.
- Embargoed: 25th November 1995 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: BAKU, AZERBAIJAN
- City:
- Country: EUROPE Azerbaijan
- Reuters ID: LVA7KI53DOJOTCNO4MJCH5KBP292
- Story Text: Azeris go to the polls on Sunday (November 12) to elect a new parliament in the first elections since the former Soviet republic gained independence in 1991.
While last minute preparations are under way, international observers say many opposition groups have been denied the right to participate.
President Haydar Aliyev, whose term ends in 1998, is expected to tighten his grip on the oil-producing state.
Out of dozens of opposition parties only the Popular Front, which held power in 1992-93 under nationalist President Abulfez Elcibey, has been allowed onto the party list ballot.
Dzhafar Veliev, a law professor who heads the republic's permanent Central Electoral Commission (CEC), on Saturday called Azerbaijan's new electoral law "almost democratic." "The new law is based on almost democratic foundations, borrowed from all European countries and applicable to Azerbaijan," he said in an interview at the CEC's Baku headquarters.
Aliyev's speeches and appearances dominate state television and independent newspapers are frequently censored.
Four journalists were given prison sentences of up to five years last month for publishing a cartoon that the government said was insulting to Aliyev.
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