Domestic

Domestic

Azerbaijani Presidential Administration: The project presented to the Venice Commission proposes state funding of political parties

13 October 2011 11:10 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Ramil Mammadli â€“ APA. â€œWe think that it is a high time to free the political parties from domestic and foreign dependence. The state can use its opportunities for funding the partiesâ€, said Chief of Socio-Political Department of the Presidential Administration Ali Hasanov, APA reports.

Hasanov said that together with Chief of the Legislature and Legal Examination Department of the Presidential Administration Shahin Aliyev, he will leave for Strasbourg today for holding discussion at the Council of Europeâ€™s Venice Commission on the draft law on political parties: â€œThe discussions on the draft law will be held in Venice Commission. The project was developed in the Presidential Administration and sent to the Venice Commission for giving a reference. May be, by considering the reference of the Council of Europe, the discussion of the project will finish in 3-4 days, and the project will be sent to parliament. We consider necessary to adopt this law. Azerbaijan is able to finance the political parties. Due to the state funding, the political parties will undertake commitments before the state and statehood of Azerbaijanâ€.

Saying that there were different experiences on funding of political parties in other countries, Hasanov noted that the main model used by most of these countries is the participation of political parties in the elections and number of votes they win: â€œIn some countries it is determined with the representation in the parliament. The activity of parties is coordinated by the elections in 90-95% of countries. The parties, which donâ€™t participate in the elections, are automatically removed from financing. The participation of parties in the elections is considered as one of the basic principles in the model presented by us to the Venice Commission. But there are several views on the methods of distribution of the resources between the parties. I donâ€™t want to go into details of these versions now. These points will be announced after the end of discussions in Venice Commission. In general, the other versions will appear during the discussions. We will get the parties, which contribute to the formation of Azerbaijani society and statehood and reflects the national-spiritual values, not to be out of the fundingâ€.