Azeri poll shows over half of electorate to vote in parliamentary elections

Text of report by Azerbaijani news agency Trend

Baku, 14th October, Trend correspondent F. Kazimov: A total of 55.6 per cent of the eligible voters questioned by the Azerbaijani Foundation for Strategic Research [AFSR] said that they will take part in the upcoming parliamentary elections on 5th November. Quoting the AFSR, Trend news agency said that the results of a social survey carried out on 500 eligible voters confirm the above conclusion. According to the survey, 54.6 per cent of the eligible voters do not believe in the democratic nature of the parliamentary elections.

A total of 40.2 per cent of eligible voters are most likely to vote for the NAP [New Azerbaijan Party] while 18.6 per cent favour the Musavat Party. The same survey indicates that 12.4 per cent of the voters are in favour of the PNIA [Party for National Independence of Azerbaijan] and believe that this party will not get more than 6 per cent of the votes cast. In the opinion of those questioned, the chances of other political parties gaining seats in the parliament are not high and they are unlikely to gain more than 6 per cent of the votes cast. It should be noted that 18.2 per cent of those questioned have not made a definite voting choice yet.

A total of 33.8 per cent of the eligible voters consider television as the best source of information for the elections, while 23.2 per cent prefer to receive the information from the parliamentary candidates themselves. Some 14.6 per cent of the voters described the promotional literature as a good source of information and 16.2 per cent were not interested in information.

  Source: Trend news agency, Baku, in Russian 1240 gmt 14 Oct 00

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Posted October 18, 2000 © Eurasianet
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