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Opposition wants application of proportional system in Azerbaijan, ruling party protests against it

14 January 2010 09:52 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Elnur Mammadli â€“ APA. The opposition parties are again discussing the restoration of the proportional election system in Azerbaijan in the year of the parliamentary elections, APA reports. The opposition is going to appeal to the appropriate state bodies for the restoration of the proportional election system abolished in the referendum in 2002. Chairman of Azerbaijan Democratic Party Sardar Jalaloglu told APA that this step was important for Azerbaijanâ€™s commitments vis-Ã -vis the Council of Europe, democratization and politicization. Jalaloglu said the opposition could not make the authorities to restore the proportional election system, despite this the demand was on the agenda.
â€œMaybe it will be demanded through mass media. There is no majority election system in the former USSR countries. Party system is one of the attributes of democracy. A party can not develop in the majority system. If elections are held for the parliament, we speak about the status of the parliamentarian, then the activity on the national level of the person elected by majority is illogical. He should get votes from the whole Azerbaijan, so that he can be called a parliamentarian. In this respect, proportional election system gives more rights to the parliamentarian,â€ he said.

Sardar Jalaloglu said the proportional election system was very important both in terms of the development of democratization and political development and partiesâ€™ participation in the political life.
â€œIn the multiparty political systems parties, not persons are main actors. The majority election system is based on individual features and it has nothing to do with the national issues,â€ he said.
ADP chairman considers that both the authorities and the opposition should demonstrate political will for the restoration of this system.

Chairman of Musavat Isa Gambar told APA that Musavat always protested against the abolition of the proportional election system, proportional elections always met the interests of Azerbaijanâ€™s democratic political development.
â€œWe have always demanded the restoration of this system. The society and the parliament have been informed about the position of Musavat. The number of seats should be increased in the parliament, it should be at least 200. We have sown 201 seats in our project. Musavat considers that half of these seats should be determined by proportional system and half by the majority election system,â€ he said.

Isa Gambar said it was possible to collect signatures of voters and to propose referendum for restoration of proportional election system: â€˜We consider it necessary not only to restore proportional system, but to conduct serious reforms in the election system in whole, as well as re-establishing of election commissions which win confidence by all parties in the elections. It could be established on the basis of parity between the government and opposition. We have other proposals that were sent to the parliament. We discussed it inside the party and whole opposition. We submitted our position to the society and the government and we will continue it. Restoration of proportional election system is in the interest of Azerbaijanâ€.

Leader of National Unity Movement Lala Shovkat also told APA that restoration of proportional election system is on agenda. â€œWe take some actions toward it. We discussed this issue in 2005 and now we are working on that. But it depends not on us, but on the government. We have to be guided by realities today. We discussed the issue and sent our proposals to the parliament, but no one reviewed thatâ€. Shovkat said oppositionâ€™s demand to restore proportional elections system would be priority this year too.

Deputy Executive Secretary of New Azerbaijan Party (YAP) Mubariz Gurbanli told APA that majority election system implemented since 2002 in Azerbaijan justified itself. â€œMost countries implement majority election system. We support this system and I donâ€™t see need to return to the proportional election system. If opposition says that proportional election system is one of the attributes of democracy, do you think is the United Kingdom, which implements majority system, anti-democratic country? There are tens of democratic countries, which never implemented proportional system and used majority system throughout the history. The United States are using majority system. Every country has certain election system. Even forms of proportional system used in Italy, Germany today are the majority system indeed. The citizen votes for the persons not depending which places they occupy in the list of candidates. Today voting for personalities and policy is a leading course in the most part of the world. Indeed the political course is behind personalities during the votingâ€. Gurbanli said Azerbaijan used mixed system for a time. â€œBut the experience shows that majority system is the most useful systemâ€.