New Television Channels Could Shake Up Coverage of Azerbaijan’s Looming Parliamentary Elections

Throughout the Caucasus and Central Asia, the ability of incumbents to control broadcast media has provided pro-government candidates with an enormous advantage in elections. The upcoming parliamentary election in Azerbaijan could prove an exception, as two new television channels that aim to begin broadcasting soon could foster more competitive campaign coverage.

Azerbaijan's parliamentary vote, scheduled for November, is seen as a key democratization test. Some analysts suggest the election has the potential to spark political unrest, pointing to the examples of Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan, where attempted electoral manipulation sparked popular protests that toppled incumbent leaders. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. Azerbaijan's past elections, including the 2003 presidential balloting, have been marred by irregularities. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. However, the government has pledged to conduct a clean vote in November.

President Ilham Aliyev's administration has come under strong international pressure to guarantee a free-and-fair vote, and opposition leaders, energized by developments in Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan, have embraced aggressive political tactics for the campaign. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

Roughly six weeks before the campaign kicks off, the country's political elite is focusing on media issues, wrangling over a framework that would govern campaign coverage. Attention is centering on the pending appearance of two new television channels that potentially could broaden opposition candidates' access to the airwaves.

The stated aim of both new stations -- the long-discussed Public Television channel (OTV) and a possible "independent" satellite channel that would be broadcast from Prague -- is to provide balanced coverage. At present, almost all of Azerbaijan's television stations are owned and operated by the government or by entrepreneurs with close ties to Aliyev's administration.

The public TV channel, due to begin broadcasting in mid-August after months of highly contentious debate, is due to receive $3.5 million in funding from the state, prompting some media analysts to believe it will reinforce the pro-government bias in broadcast media. The station's general director, Ismail Omarov, has emerged as a lightning rod for controversy. He has held a variety of administrative and editorial posts at the state television channel, AzTv 1, and has served as a pro-government member of parliament. Many opposition journalists say his selection as general director increases the likelihood that OTV will fail to achieve its goal of opening up Azerbaijan's media climate.

"They'll be totally acting according to the dictates of the presidential administration," Media Rights Institute Director Rashid Hadjili said. "It's most visible in how they chose the general director—he's exactly the type they shouldn't have chosen if they had used an objective selection method." [Rashid Hadjili serves on the board of the Open Society Assistance Foundation in Azerbaijan, part of the Soros Foundations Network. EurasiaNet operates under the auspices of the Open Society Institute in New York.]

Omarov brushes off criticism about editorial past, saying it is "not a sin" to have worked for state television. He claims that OTV's staff was hired without consideration given to political affiliation, and insists that the station's campaign coverage will be fair. "It will be 50/50, opposition and governmental," he said. "If I give one minute to the government, I will give one minute to the opposition. We want the words