Rights defenders treat appointment of parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan as violation of the Constitution

The parliamentary election campaign in Azerbaijan is held amid the restriction of political freedoms; while the decision to dissolve the parliament is contrary to the Constitution and international democratic practice. This was stated by the NGO "Institute of Democratic Initiatives" (IDI).

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on December 5, President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliev signed a decree on dissolution of the parliament. The early elections are scheduled for February 9, 2020.

"The dissolution of the parliament was initiated by the ruling 'Eni Azerbaijan' Party under the pretext of supporting reforms. However, under the Constitution, the parliament can be dissolved, if it evades its legislative functions. There were no formal grounds for this," Akif Gurbanov, the head of the IDI, believes.

The February 9 elections will be held in an atmosphere of absolute use of administrative resources by the ruling party, the authors of the IDI's report are predicting, indicating that the activities of independent civil society institutions had been paralyzed in advance. The criminal case launched in 2014 against local and foreign NGOs remains open; the bans imposed on travels abroad of well-known figures of the civil society are still in force. There are also no positive changes in the media environment; opponents of the authorities have no access to TV channels, the report says.