Electoral Code impasse

The first round of talks between the government and opposition to discuss the new Electoral Code, began at Milli Maclis (parliament) on Monday. The media was not allowed into the face-to-face meeting between Sahin Aliyev, head of the Presidential Administration's department on legislation and legal examination issues, who is also one of the authors of the document, and Fuad Agayev, a member of the National Independence Party of Azerbaijan, mandated by the Coordinating Center of the Opposition to hold talks on behalf of the center. In his attempt to shed light on the issues raised and discussed at the meeting, Fuad Agayev said the opposition's proposals on forming the composition of electoral commissions were recommended for submission to the parliament. For his part, Sahin Aliyev judged them as additional comments, not differences.

Agayev attributed the failure to arrive at any conclusion to the government's reluctance for talks. The revised Code stipulates that 21-member commissions involve six members of the party enjoying a majority in Milli Maclis, six members of parties with minorities, six members to be nominated by independent deputies, while the remaining three members be judges. The opposition, however, insists on forming election commissions from representatives of the parties that have overcome a one-percent barrier at the 2000 parliamentary elections. The opposition has continuously ignored the OSCE-held discussions of the Electoral Code, claiming it to be biased.