Text of report by Azerbaijani Space TV on 20th March

[Presenter, in studio] The municipal elections, which were held on 12th
December last year, were considered satisfactory, according to the
international observers. However, at the same time the elections were
invalid in a number of precincts. It is planned that the repeated elections
[in these areas] will be held on 26th March this year. Today a special
session was held attended by representatives of the bodies holding the
elections and the heads of local executive authorities. The session was
chaired by [Azerbaijani] President [Heydar Aliyev].

[Correspondent, over video of the session] At the beginning of the session
Aliyev congratulated the Azerbaijani people on the [Novruz] holiday.
Speaking about the municipal elections, Aliyev said that this had been the
country's first experience. It seemed there had been some mistakes during
the elections to the local authority bodies. Aliyev believes that, in
general, these mistakes must be avoided in a democratic society. Aliyev
said that he was familiar with the fact that during the elections some
heads of local executive authorities had interfered in the elections. He
also recalled that the head of Narimanov District [in Baku] executive
authorities had been released from his post because of his mistakes. Aliyev
once again emphasized that the heads of the local executive authorities
must not interfere during the repeated elections.

[Aliyev, speaks loudly] The local executive bodies must fulfill their duties
here. By carrying out illegal actions and allegedly helping the
representatives of the Azerbaijani authorities they actually hamper our
work.

[Correspondent] Then the chairman of the Central Electoral Commission, Jafar
Valiyev, briefed Aliyev on the repeated elections. In accordance with his
report, 1,300 candidates to 76 municipalities will stand in the elections,
and of them only 500 will be elected. Valiyev noted that international
observers would come to our country to take part in the repeated elections.

At the end of the session Aliyev ordered Interior Minister Ramil Usubov to
instruct the employees of the law-enforcement agencies to stay far away
from the polling stations in the territories under their control.
Communications Minister Nadir Ahmadov was instructed to guarantee the
correct organization of communications at the polling stations. And the
president of Azerenerzhi [Azerbaijani energy] joint stock company, Muslum
Imanov, was instructed to ensure that the polling stations had an
uninterrupted supply of energy on the day of the elections. Aliyev said
that our purpose is not to show the international observers the democratic
nature of the elections. We must simply attempt to hold the elections in a
democratic way. Mehman Mehdiyev, Fuad Nazarov, Space.

Source: Space TV, Baku, in Azeri 1400 gmt 20 Mar 00