2023-08-22 12:45:18
Protest statement of the Azerbaijan Popular Front Party against the initiative of the Azerbaijani authorities to destroy the opposition and create a de facto one-party system in the country
“Ilham Aliyev’s government wants to create a legal basis for the repression it has been using for 20 years to eliminate the political opposition in the country. The adoption of a new, reactionary law on political parties in January of this year aims exactly at this goal.
However, it seems that only the reactionary law on political parties was not enough for the transition to a one-party system in the country. On August 16, Ilham Aliyev signed the law on amending the Code of Administrative Offenses. After the amendment, the Code of Administrative Offenses stipulates 17 types of fines against political parties, party members and party leadership for violation of the legislation on political parties. Individuals may be fined from 700 to 2,000 manats, officials from 1,500 to 5,000 manats, and legal entities from 6,000 to 15,000 manats for speaking and acting on behalf of a party whose registration has been canceled or suspended.
It seems very clear that the goal is to cancel the state registration of the real opposition parties (first of all, the PFLP) under various pretexts, and then to officially ban the opposition activities by the force of law under the pressure of heavy financial fines.
Since the new law “On Political Parties” was brought up for discussion, the PFLP has declared that it is reactionary and should be abolished at the first opportunity, and it will remain in this position in all cases from now on. However, in order not to give any excuse for canceling its registration, PFLP submitted the register of more than 5,000 members to the Ministry of Justice. The list provided has been carefully prepared and repeatedly revised. The PFLP is ready to prove in any way that the persons in the list it has submitted are party members.
PFLP declares without hesitation that if there is no political order, there should not be any problem with its registration. However, it is very unfortunate that some preliminary signs suggest that the Ministry of Justice may cancel the registration of the PFLP on a political order.
The authorities may want to cancel the registration of the PFLP, and then implement the intention to eliminate the real opposition in the country by hindering the political activities of party members and leadership with heavy financial sanctions, and in fact, the new law “On Political Parties” and amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses were adopted directly for this purpose.
The PFLP declares that attempts to create any problems with its registration, to ban the activities of a party that is the de facto main opposition party in the country, will create serious consequences for the government itself. On the other hand, considering people to engage in political activities without the registry approval of the Ministry of Justice as a major violation of the law and punishing them with heavy financial sanctions is contrary to the Constitution of Azerbaijan and the international norms that Azerbaijan supports, and it will undoubtedly cause serious protests. Ilham Aliyev’s government should not be confident that the democratic world will be more concerned with the Russia-Ukraine war and that the desire to reach a permanent peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia will come to the fore. Banning peaceful political opposition at the legal level in a country that is part of the European political space and has been a member of the Council of Europe for more than 20 years can trigger the punishment mechanism of the international community against itself.
The PFLP declares that regardless of the situation regarding its registration, it will continue its peaceful struggle for the protection of universal rights and freedoms and the establishment of democracy in the country with all legal and political means.
The people of Azerbaijan should know that banning the real opposition in the country by law and thus depriving it of political alternatives will ultimately mean that its living conditions will be aggravated, and that it will deal a heavy blow to our national and state interests. It is necessary to face such a threat with a more massive protest and resistance.
The democratic community of the world should also use more effective means to express its negative attitude towards Ilham Aliyev’s desire to turn Azerbaijan into a North Korea-style state with an officially totalitarian, de facto one-party system, and the international community should take a timely and principled political position to prevent this desire from happening.”
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