BBC MONITORING GUIDE TO THE AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS
15 OCTOBER 2003

Introduction
Azerbaijan is heading for presidential elections on 15 October with a unique father-son double bill still leading the list of contenders. Incumbent President Heydar Aliyev is the official candidate of the ruling New Azerbaijan Party, despite the fact that he is in a US hospital and has not been seen in public since 8 July. Heydar Aliyev’s son, the newly-appointed prime minister, Ilham Aliyev, is campaigning on his father’s behalf. He says that he will stand down in favour of his father before the elections, although many observers expect Heydar Aliyev to stand down instead. [On October 2, Heidar Aliyev formally withdrew from the presidential race and endorsed his son Ilham].

The 80-year-old Heydar Aliyev is seeking a third term in office. He has a history of health problems and is currently undergoing medical treatment in the USA’s Cleveland clinic. He was last seen in public on 8 July, before he left for medical treatment, initially in Turkey. Ilham Aliyev was appointed prime minister on 4 August, when his father was still in a Turkish military hospital. The opposition says that Heydar Aliyev is no longer fit to run the country and describes Ilham Aliyev’s appointment as part of a "neo-monarchal" scenario. The opposition responded to this appointment by staging well-attended protest demonstrations.

Ten contenders are contesting the presidential elections: Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliyev; Azerbaijani Prime Minister Ilham Aliyev; the only female candidate - National Unity Movement leader Lala Sovkat Haciyeva; Modern Musavat Party Chairman Hafiz Haciyev; MP Qudrat Hasanquliyev; Justice Party Chairman Ilyas Ismayilov; Azarbaycan Milli Istiqlal Party Chairman Etibar Mammadov; Civic Solidarity Party Chairman Sabir Rustamxanli and Musavat Party chairman Isa Qambar. The People’s Front of Azerbaijan Party’s chairman, Ali Karimli, is still officially a contender, but he has announced his intention to stand down in favour of AMIP leader Etibar Mammadov. National Unity Party leader Yunus Oguz withdrew his candidacy in favour of Ilham Aliyev on 25 September. The Alliance for Azerbaijan Party chairman, Abutalib Samadov, announced that he was withdrawing his candidacy in favour of Ilham Aliyev on 1 October.

The president is the head of state and commander-in-chief of the armed forces. The president promulgates laws, sets elections to the Azerbaijani parliament, appoints the prime minister and members of the government, appoints the prosecutor-general, the chairman and members of the Constitutional Court and other courts, and appoints Azerbaijan’s diplomatic representatives.

Rules and regulations
Voting is by universal, direct suffrage, by secret ballot. The voting will be held at polling stations from 0800 to 1900 (0300-1400 gmt) on Wednesday 15 October which has been declared a non-working day. Campaigning will stop at 0800 (0300 gmt) on 14 October.

The winner is the candidate who gains more than 50 per cent of the votes cast. If no candidate gains the necessary 50 per cent, the two candidates who received the most votes will contest a second round of voting on the second Sunday following the first voting, i.e. on 26 October. The candidate who receives more votes in the second round is considered elected.

The counting of votes has to be finished within 24 hours of the end of voting. The Central Electoral Commission has to publish preliminary results of the elections by 20 October. It has to sum up the final results and submit them to the Constitutional Court by 29 October.

Major issues
Controversy around Heydar Aliyev’s health and Ilham Aliyev’s appointment

Heydar Aliyev has dominated politics in oil-rich Azerbaijan for almost three decades. After he regained power in Azerbaijan in June 1993, he won two presidential elections, in October 1993 and 1998. The CSCE, the precursor to the OSCE, said the 1993 elections were not democratic, as several parties did not take part. Observers from the OSCE and Council of Europe said that the 1998 elections "fell short of international standards". International groups have accused Heydar Aliyev’s government of corruption and human rights abuse.

Heydar Aliyev’s deteriorating health has prompted speculation that he will have to step aside as president. He suffered a heart attack in 1987, and in the past few years he has had bypass surgery in the USA, as well as prostate and hernia operations.

On 21 April 2003 Heydar Aliyev collapsed during a televised speech and a few days later was taken to a Turkish military hospital. Azerbaijani opposition newspapers reported that the president had been paralysed after suffering a second heart attack and even had slipped into a coma.

Western states are keeping a close on eye on the president’s health. Heydar Aliyev is credited with inviting foreign companies to invest in the country’s Caspian Sea oil fields. Construction has just begun of a multibillion dollar pipeline to transport crude oil from the Caspian Sea to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan via Georgia.

Heydar Aliyev was again flown to Turkey on 8 July, then to the USA on 6 August. He was diagnosed with cardiac insufficiency and related kidney problems, according to hospital press releases. Ilham Aliyev, however, has been insisting that his father will return soon to continue his election campaign. He also says that he is running for the presidency only in order to be actively involved in Heydar Aliyev’s campaign.

Confusion on candidate from ruling party
Ilham Aliyev’s nomination for the presidency will not create any problems for voters, the ruling New Azerbaijan Party (NAP) believes. "Members of Ilham Aliyev’s initiative groups who nominated him can vote for Ilham, and the whole nation for Heydar Aliyev," the NAP deputy executive secretary, Mubariz Qurbanli, said, while commenting on the registration of Ilham Aliyev’s presidential candidacy.

Presidential candidate Etibar Mammadov does not see Ilham Aliyev as a serious rival. "The nomination of two candidates from one party shows that the authorities are unable to predict their own future. This shows that the father and the son cannot agree," Mammadov said. He believes that such steps testify to a split and disarray in the ruling party.

People’s Front leader Ali Karimli, who is backing Etibar Mammadov, believes that Ilham Aliyev’s nomination for the presidency contradicts both the party’s regulations and general rules. "We should speak about the ruling team losing confidence in its future, and they are trying to insure themselves by similar unnatural steps," Karimli said. He also said that future uncertainty would cause a split in the ranks of the ruling party.

Presidential candidate Isa Qambar described the situation around Ilham Aliyev as "original". "First of all, because neither the ruling elite nor the Aliyev family have a single candidate," he said. Qambar believes that bewilderment in the ranks of the ruling party will intensify. However, the number of NAP candidates is of no significance as this party "has not justified the people’s trust" and nothing will stop democratic forces from winning the elections, Qambar said.

"One campaign for two candidates"
The New Azerbaijan Party will work with voters in the election campaign both on an individual basis and through major events, the NAP executive secretary, Ali Ahmadov, said in an interview with Azerbaijani news agency Turan on 18 August. Commenting on the election concerts organized by the party in Azerbaijan’s towns and districts, Ahmadov said that these occasions should not be seen as entertainment. "We are using new forms of campaigning in order to bring the party’s election platform to the people when they are elated," Ahmadov said. He said that the party intended to hold similar election events in all the country’s regions. Asked what funds were financing the events, broadcast on two TV channels, Ahmadov said "the candidates’ election funds".

Ahmadov described the campaign for Heydar and Ilham Aliyev as "one campaign for two candidates". Moreover, he stressed that Ilham Aliyev was taking part in the race as a "campaigner" for Heydar Aliyev. With this aim in mind Ilham Aliyev is trying to visit as many regions as possible. As for the president himself, he will also take part in meetings with voters when he returns from Cleveland, Ahmadov said.

Single opposition candidate?
It is not the first time that the Azerbaijani opposition has come up with the idea of putting forward a single candidate. However, in 1998 the opposition parties did not manage to unite around one candidate. Several opposition parties boycotted the 1998 presidential poll, including the People’s Front of Azerbaijan Party and Musavat, while AMIP leader Etibar Mammadov was runner-up in the elections.

In an interview with Zerkalo newspaper on 7 August, presidential candidate Ali Karimli said: "Aliyev junior’s appointment has proved that, despite disagreements, the power team has managed to set aside ambitions, even if only temporarily. Regretfully, I have to admit that there are people in our ranks, not so few of them, who deeply believe that coming to power after Heydar Aliyev’s departure will not be all that difficult and it will not require much effort. I think that if Ilham Aliyev will be playing against opposition leaders alone, he will have very hard times. However, we should also take into account the fact that, despite Heydar Aliyev’s inability to govern the state, the system he invented will continue to operate up until the election.

"Thus, it is absolutely necessary that we participate in the election with a single candidate. Heydar Aliyev’s non-participation in the election does not mean that the opposition no longer needs to nominate a single candidate for the presidential race. At this time, we will be fighting not against Ilham Aliyev, but against remnants of the regime created by Heydar Aliyev and based on force. Our salvation is in unification. People must achieve democracy by themselves."

The leaders of the four major Azerbaijani opposition parties held consultations in London in August 2003. The Azerbaijani opposition will not have one single candidate in the presidential elections on 15 October, the general secretary of the Democratic Party of Azerbaijan, Sardar Calaloglu, told Interfax on 25 August. "The opposition candidates will act independently in the election. It was agreed in London that they would support the opposition candidate only after the first round of the election," Sardar Calaloglu said. But Rasul Quliyev (the Democratic Party of Azerbaijan), Isa Qambar (the Musavat Party), Ali Karimli (the People’s Front of Azerbaijan Party) and Etibar Mammadov (the Azarbaycan Milli Istiqlal Party) had agreed in London to set up the Democratic Stability Union, a movement for political stability in Azerbaijan, he said.

The ruling party described the opposition’s certainty that the presidential election would go to two rounds as unfounded. "I am absolutely positive that there will be no second round. The opposition is not strong enough for that," the NAP deputy executive secretary, Siyavus Novruzov, told Interfax. He said that the majority of voters would support President Heydar Aliyev on 15 October and there would be no need for a second round in the election.

At a news conference on the results of the London talks, presidential candidate Etibar Mammadov outlined the opposition’s objectives: to ensure legitimate and democratic elections in Azerbaijan; to ensure that the state structures operate within the law; to organize a resistance movement based on the people’s right to protest; to democratize the Electoral Code and rid it of anti-constitutional provisions to ensure that the election process is within the constitution at the current stage; to gain public confidence in the electoral commissions and ensure that candidates who have the real support of the electorate participate in the elections; to engage in a consistent and principled fight to achieve the goals set; to prevent separatist actions; and not to make concessions on issues of national interest.

Mammadov also briefed journalists on the contents of the London protocol. It is applied in the event of the victory of one of the four leaders. In this case, the president elect is to democratize the constitution and the country’s laws, carry out fundamental reforms in the economic, social, scientific, educational and other fields. When forming his team, the new president will ignore people’s political affiliation and attract staff from the whole spectrum of the democratic camp. The president can form the government with any of the Democratic Stability Union leaders.

Mammadov gave a positive answer to a question on whether the Democratic Stability Union could be conceived as "an embryo of the government of national confidence".

Two opposition leaders unite
On 17 September 2003 the Azarbaycan Milli Istiqlal Party and the People’s Front of Azerbaijan Party signed an agreement on setting up a coalition to participate in the presidential elections. Under the agreement, Etibar Mammadov will be the coalition’s presidential candidate. Ali Karimli said that he would withdraw his candidacy a week before the elections.

If the presidential elections yield the expected result, a coalition government based on parity is to be set up. The People’s Front of Azerbaijan Party will be in charge of appointing the prime minister and forming the government. Both parties will be equally represented in ministries, state committees and other central executive authorities, as well as district and city executive authorities. Important government decisions will be agreed in advance by consensus at a coalition council of the party chairmen. If the coalition candidate wins the elections, a new constitution is to be adopted within six months. After the constitution is endorsed, parliamentary elections are to be held within three months and municipal elections within the next three months.

Tempers flare
A TV debate between presidential candidates or their representatives on 6 September ended in a brawl. The programme was already nearing completion when presidential candidate Ali Karimli’s proxy, Fuad Mustafayev, said that one of the dishonourable products of the incumbent regime was sitting in the studio, and at that moment he pointed at presidential candidate Hafiz Haciyev. In response, the latter called Mustafayev a son of a bitch. Mustafayev, in turn, threw a glass of water at Haciyev. Haciyev leapt from his seat and threw himself at Mustafayev. At this moment, the presenter gave an order for the broadcast to be interrupted.

Turan news agency reported on the same day that after the broadcast was stopped, a brawl broke out between Haciyev and Mustafayev in the studio. Then Haciyev’s representatives burst into the studio and tried to help him. It was only after the police intervened that calm was restored.

In his campaign broadcasts, Hafiz Haciyev had accused opposition presidential candidates of spying for Armenia and Iran and made insulting remarks about their past.

Police clash with opposition supporters
On 21 September Isa Qambar’s meetings with voters in Baku’s Yasamal and Nizami districts were marred by fierce clashes between opposition supporters and police, Turan news agency reported. By the time the meeting was due to start in a local cinema, several thousand people had turned up while the cinema could accommodate only 450 people. Reinforced police units attempted to disperse the crowd. But opposition supporters put up stiff resistance. While the meeting was going on inside the cinema, police and people in civilian clothes clashed with opposition supporters. Policemen and people of athletic build wearing civilian clothes beat up people with batons and iron rods.

A similar incident occurred in the evening at another cinema in Baku’s Eighth Kilometre residential suburb, according to Turan. The square outside the cinema was cordoned off with lorries beforehand. Several thousand people tried to break through to the cinema. Clashes started between police and voters. Police and athletically built people in civilian clothes beat up people who came to meet the presidential candidate. Opposition supporters put up resistance. Clashes lasted for about an hour and a half and hundreds of people sustained serious injuries. People’s Party Chairman Panah Huseynov was also seriously injured. His right arm, fingers and nose were broken and his kidneys damaged.

Etibar Mammadov and Ali Karimli on 22 September told the media about provocations against them during meetings with voters in the southern Lankaran-Astara region. They blamed them on the Presidential Executive Staff, the leadership of the New Azerbaijan Party and the Interior Ministry. Etibar Mammadov said that he had information about the planned provocation in the south of the country in advance. He asked the Interior Ministry to ensure his security. However, he said that he was attacked by police officers themselves.

Candidates’ stance on Karabakh settlement
The fate of the disputed territory of Nagornyy Karabakh and the occupied areas around it is a key issue in all the candidates’ campaigns.

As the Soviet Union collapsed, the predominantly Armenian population of the Nagornyy Karabakh region stated their intention to secede from Azerbaijan. Backed by troops and resources from Armenia proper, the Armenians of Karabakh took control of the region and surrounding territory. In 1994 a cease-fire was signed. About one-seventh of Azerbaijan’s territory has remained occupied, while 800,000 refugees and internally displaced persons are scattered around the country

On 18 August ANS TV interviewed the candidates about the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict.

The ruling party gives preference to a resolution through talks or other means, should this way fail, the TV said.

Ali Karimli said that he would give preference to the four UN resolutions on the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. Karimli said: "We intend to force Armenia to make concessions in peace talks by directing the entire strength of the Azerbaijani diaspora towards the implementation of the four UN resolutions."

Ilyas Ismayilov favoured talks backed by military force too. Ismayilov said: "Where there is force, talks yield an effect. But where there is no force, talks cannot yield any effect."

Sabir Rustamxanli believed that a preparatory stage was needed to resolve the conflict. Rustamxanli said: "A preparatory process lasting for two, two-and-a-half or three years is needed, and after that the issue may be resolved."

Isa Qambar chose peace: "We will resolve this problem during our first five years. We will use our potential and give preference to a peaceful resolution."

Qudrat Hasanquliyev chose war: "As you know, an undeclared war has been under way. In a year we will officially declare war on Armenia and liberate our lands."

Etibar Mammadov promised that he would use all means: "If I become president, all means, i.e. diplomatic, economic and military means, will be used."

Hafiz Haciyev wanted two years for war. Haciyev said: "Using our strong army, we will completely clear our lands from Armenian occupiers."

Lala Sovkat Haciyeva said in a campaign broadcast on state television on 22
September: "I promise you that Karabakh will be liberated within two years. Otherwise, I will resign and announce new presidential elections."

Opinion polls
Recent opinion polls have given the two Aliyevs together a clear lead.

The Sel analytical information centre conducted an opinion poll in mid-September amongst 502 respondents in Baku and the nearby town of Sumqayit. The results were:

1. President Heydar Aliyev or Prime Minister Ilham Aliyev - 61.9 per cent

2. Lala Sovkat Haciyeva, former chairwoman of the Liberal Party of Azerbaijan - 9.6 per cent

3. Etibar Mammadov, chairman of the Azarbaycan Milli Istiqlal Party - 8.4 per cent

4. Isa Qambar, chairman of the Musavat Party - 7.2 per cent

5. Yunus Oguz, chairman of the National Unity Party (since withdrawn from the elections) - 6.4 per cent

6. Ali Karimli, chairman of the reformist wing of the People’s Front of Azerbaijan Party (to withdraw from the elections) - 3 per cent

7. Sabir Rustamxanli, chairman of the Civic Solidarity Party - 2.5 per cent

8. Ilyas Ismayilov, chairman of the Justice Party - 0.5 per cent

9. Qudrat Hasanquliyev, chairman of the third wing of the People’s Front of Azerbaijan Party - 0.3 per cent

10. Abutalib Samadov, chairman of the Alliance for Azerbaijan Party (since withdrawn from the elections) - 0.1 per cent

11. Hafiz Haciyev, chairman of the Modern Musavat Party - 0.1 per cent.

In an opinion poll conducted in July-August 2003 by the pro-government campaigning group of the Presidential Elections-2003 youth movement, Ilham Aliyev took first place with 55.21 per cent of the vote. Isa Qambar received 13.51 per cent, Etibar Mammadov 8.81, Ali Karimli 6.79, Lala Sovkat Haciyeva 4.69, Ilyas Ismayilov 3.1, Sabir Rustamxanli 2.01 and Qudrat Hasanquliyev 1.01 per cent.

In an opinion poll conducted by another pro-government organization - the centre for the development of reforms in Azerbaijan - incumbent President Heydar Aliyev got 30 per cent of the votes and Ilham Aliyev 17 per cent. Etibar Mammadov got 14 per cent, Isa Qambar 13 per cent, Lala Sovkat 6 per cent, Sabir Rustamxanli 5.5 per cent, Yunus Oguz 3.5 per cent and Ilyas Ismayilov and Qudrat Hasanquliyev 2.5 per cent respectively.

Candidates

Heydar Aliyev
Nominated by the ruling New Azerbaijan Party which he founded and chairs. Heydar Aliyev was born in 1923 in Naxcivan into a worker’s family. He graduated from the faculty of history of the Azerbaijani State University. He joined the NKVD in 1944, the forerunner of the Soviet KGB, and rose to become Azerbaijan’s KGB chief in 1967. In 1969, he was appointed first secretary of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan and held that position until 1982, when he became deputy chairman of the Soviet Council of Ministers. He left the Politburo in 1987 in the shake-up that followed Mikhail Gorbachev’s appointment as party secretary and went into retirement.

Heydar Aliyev returned to Azerbaijan in 1991 and was elected member of the Azerbaijani parliament from his native region, Naxcivan. In 1991 he became the parliamentary speaker and leader of Naxcivan.

Abulfaz Elcibay, independent Azerbaijan’s first democratically elected president, invited Heydar Aliyev to return to Baku in June 1993. The country was in chaos, losing ground in the fighting for Karabakh and on the verge of civil war. When Elcibay fled the capital shortly after that, Heydar Aliyev assumed the responsibilities of president, a post to which he was elected later the same year. He was re-elected for a further five years in 1998.

Despite persistent reports on his failing health, Heydar Aliyev has been nominated by his New Azerbaijan Party to run for a third term in the October elections. He has not been seen in public since he left Azerbaijan on 8 July, initially for medical treatment in Turkey. From Turkey the Azerbaijani president was taken to the Cleveland clinic in the USA. His party insists that he will return to Baku before the elections.

Ilham Aliyev
Nominated by an initiative group in the town of Naxcivan. Ilham Aliyev was born in 1961 in Baku and graduated from Moscow’s State Institute for International Relations in 1982. He is married with three children.

When Heydar Aliyev was promoted and appointed a member of the Politburo in 1982, Ilham was doing his post-graduate course in Moscow and received a Ph.D. in history.

In 1985-90 Ilham Aliyev worked as a teacher at the Moscow State Institute for International Relations. In 1991-94 he was engaged in business in Moscow and Istanbul.

In May 1994, after his father became Azerbaijani president the previous year, Ilham was appointed first vice-president of the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijani Republic. He was elected MP in 1995 and again in 2000. He led Azerbaijan’s delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and became a vice-president of the council in January 2003. In December 1999 he became deputy, and in 2001 first deputy, chairman of the ruling party. Ilham Aliyev has been president of the National Olympic Committee since 1997.

Dubbed a gambler by the opposition press, Ilham has sought to present a more sober image while carrying out his official duties.

On 4 August parliament approved Heydar Aliyev’s nomination of Ilham as prime minister. Under the Azerbaijani Constitution, if the president is forced to step down or dies while in office, the prime minister takes over as acting president until elections can be held.

A Cabinet of Ministers decree of 6 August gave Ilham Aliyev leave of office to participate in the election campaign. Since then he has continued to receive official visitors to Baku and represented Azerbaijan at the UN General Assembly in New York and the CIS summit in Yalta.

Uncertainty still surrounds Ilham’s power ambitions. In recent years, there have been rumours that the president’s son is not interested in politics at all. But after his appointment as prime minister, Ilham Aliyev pledged to continue his father’s policy. Interviewed by the Washington Post on 9 August in Baku, he said: "I will be trying to be as my father in my life. He has always been an example for me."

Lala Sovkat Haciyeva
Nominated by the National Unity initiative group. Born in 1951 in Baku, she graduated from the Azerbaijani Medical University in 1974 and is a doctor of medicine.

Her father, Sovkat Muslum oglu Xalifabayli Haciyev, was a descendant of Fatali Xan of Quba, a feudal ruler of northern Azerbaijan in the 18th century, and Shaykh Shamil, the leader of Chechen and Dagestani resistance to the Russian empire in the 19th century. Under Stalin, Lala Sovkat Haciyeva’s father set up a clandestine Party of People’s Liberation.

She began her political career as state secretary for President Heydar Aliyev in 1993. She resigned in 1995 in protest against corruption and set up the opposition Liberal Party of Azerbaijan. She resigned as party chair in June in order to run in the elections as an independent candidate .

National unity is a cornerstone of Lala Sovkat’s election manifesto. "The entire nation is divided today into tribes, clans, regions and families. The most dangerous point is that relations between these groups are reminiscent of those between enemies. There is mutual hatred in today’s politics between the authorities and the opposition, between different regions and clans. We use threats when we talk with each other. We want to wreak vengeance upon each other. Such relations jeopardize the entire statehood of a country embroiled in a war. Heeding all this, I consider national unity and national peace to be my priority," she said in a televised campaign broadcast on 1 September.

Hafiz Haciyev
Nominated by the pro-government Modern Musavat Party which he founded and chairs. He was born in 1956 in the village of Zod in Armenia. He graduated from the Azerbaijani Agricultural Academy in 1979 and received a Ph.D. in biology. He is married with three children.

Hafiz Haciyev was chief of the Fishery Department of Azerbaijan during the rule of the People’s Front in 1992-1993.

Haciyev has used his campaign broadcasts to criticize and at times insult the main opposition candidates. He was involved in a brawl with the representative of People’s Front leader Ali Karimli during one TV debate and walked out of a subsequent TV debate.

An article in Azerbaijani newspaper Zerkalo commented that Haciyev was as likely to be elected president as the Azeri football team was to win the World Cup.

Qudrat Hasanquliyev
Nominated by civil initiative. He was born in 1965 in the village of Abraqunus in Naxcivan. He graduated from Baku State University’s legal department in 1992 and is married with two children.

Hasanquliyev was an adviser to the chairman of the People’s Front of Azerbaijan Party since 1993. He acted as secretary of the Central Electoral Commission from this party in 2000-03. But following disagreements with the party leadership, he set up his own People’s Front of Azerbaijan Party (known as the third wing) in 2002.

Hasanquliyev was elected member of the Azerbaijani parliament in the by-elections in March 2003.

In a live election broadcast on 8 September, Hasanquliyev said that if elected he would declare an amnesty for all the money circulating in Azerbaijan’s shadow economy.

Ilyas Ismayilov
Nominated by the Justice Party which he founded and chairs. He was born in 1938 in Tovuz. He graduated from Baku State University’s legal department in 1962 and is married with two children.

Founded in 1993, the Justice Party merged with the Democratic Party of Azerbaijan in 1997. Ilyas Ismayilov was elected co-chairman of the Democratic Party alongside ex-Speaker Rasul Quliyev. But in 2001 the Justice Party re-established itself and Ilyas Ismayilov was elected its chairman.

Ilyas Ismayilov was Azerbaijan’s prosecutor-general from 1985 to 1990 and justice minister from 1992 to 1995 under the presidencies of both Abulfaz Elcibay and Heydar Aliyev.

In his campaign broadcast on 4 September, Ilyas Ismayilov said that the Azerbaijani government deterred foreign businessmen by bribery and racketeering. "Only major US and British oil companies can work independently in Azerbaijan. The reason is that our corrupt leaders fear the governments of both countries. Other companies are under the family’s strict control," Ismayilov said. "If I am elected president, I promise to create the best conditions for local and foreign businessmen to invest freely in the country. I will also give them safety guarantees. My main task will be to develop industry and to eliminate unemployment," Ismayilov said. Ismayilov said that if he was elected president, he would ensure the transparency of statistical data and budget expenditure and curtail corruption.

Ali Karimli
Nominated by the People’s Front of Azerbaijan Party (reformist wing) which he chairs. He was born in 1965 in the village of Azadkand in Saatli District. He graduated from Baku State University’s legal department in 1991 and is married with two children.

Ali Karimli was a member of the Elcibay administration in 1992-93 and was state secretary in April-June 1993.

Ali Karimli became the chairman of the People’s Front of Azerbaijan Party after Elcibay’s death in 2000. The party then split into two wings: the reformists and traditionalists. The reformist wing led by Ali Karimli is recognized as the successor of the People’s Front of Azerbaijan Party by the Justice Ministry and major political forces.

Ali Karimli was elected member of parliament in 1995 and 2000.

Speaking about his election manifesto at a conference on "Political evolution in Azerbaijan - the importance of the 2003 presidential elections" in London in July 2003, Karimli said that his party advocates a favourable climate for domestic business and wants to create better conditions for local and foreign investors. The non-oil sector in Azerbaijan needs subsidies from the country’s oil profits, he said. Karimli said that stability will be preserved in Azerbaijan after the national democrats come to power. Not police truncheons, but national trust will be the guarantee of that stability.

On 17 September Ali Karimli and Etibar Mammadov, leader of the Azarbaycan Milli Istiqlal Party, signed an agreement setting up an election coalition. Under the agreement Ali Karimli will stand down from the elections in favour of Etibar Mammadov. Should Mammadov be elected, the People’s Front will nominate the prime minister. Ali Karimli said that he would actually withdraw his candidacy one week before the elections, in order to derive maximum benefit from the campaign time allotted on state TV.

Etibar Mammadov
Nominated by the Azarbaycan Milli Istiqlal Party which he founded and chairs. He was born in 1955 in Baku. He graduated from Baku State University’s history department in 1978 and received a PhD in history. He is married with three children.

He was a student of Abulfaz Elcibay, an academic and Soviet-era dissident who later became leader of the People’s Front and Azerbaijani president. Mammadov was expelled from university for his secret political activity in 1974-75. He took an active part in the National Movement from 1988 and was one of the founders of the People’s Front of Azerbaijan.

Mammadov founded the Azarbaycan Milli Istiqlal Party in 1992. He was elected a member of the Azerbaijani parliament in 1990 and 1995. In 1998 he was runner up to Heydar Aliyev in the presidential elections. The Central Electoral Commission said that Mammadov polled 11.6 per cent of votes to Heydar Aliyev’s 76.11 per cent. Mammadov disputed the results, saying that both he and Heydar Aliyev had won around 35 per cent of the votes each. The Central Electoral Commission did not published a complete breakdown of the results throughout the country.

Mammadov’s election manifesto prioritizes constitutional reforms. Speaking live on state television on 5 September, he said: "We have prepared a programme of reforms. In line with the programme of reforms, if we are elected, first of all, a referendum will be held within three months on reforms to the constitution. The constitution will be amended, and the president’s power or, if I am elected my power, will be restricted as limiting power is a very important issue. No-one is allowed to behave unilaterally and practise a free-for-all. We should all be under control. We will report to the people. Power will be divided between the government and parliament. Municipal bodies, local municipal bodies, will also be given power. Representatives of municipal bodies have been elected by you and therefore, they should report to you."

Isa Qambar
Isa Qambar was nominated by the Musavat Party which he chairs. His candidacy is also supported by the Bizim Azarbaycan (Our Azerbaijan) bloc, which unites 21 parties. The first deputy chairman of the Musavat Party, Vurgun Ayyub, said on 18 June that the party had decided to nominate Qambar due to "difficulties" with his nomination by the Our Azerbaijan bloc.

Qambar was born in 1957 in Baku. He graduated from Baku State University’s history department and is married.

Qambar was one of the founders of the People’s Front of Azerbaijan and its deputy chairman. He was elected a member of parliament in 1990. Qambar was speaker of parliament in 1992-93 before and during Elcibay’s presidency. In his capacity as speaker he was acting president for three weeks in 1992.

Qambar outlined his future policies in the election speech on 28 August: "We will rescue the people from this misery. To that end, we have all possibilities, programmes. We know perfectly well Azerbaijan’s problems and know ways to solve those problems. We have the necessary human resources to resolve problems. Both the Musavat Party and the Our Azerbaijan bloc, which works jointly with the Musavat Party - this bloc unites 21 parties - and other political parties which can be together with us have these resources. Society in general has these resources. There are thousands of skilled, talented, intelligent, high-principled, honest people who love their motherland. There are some people in the authorities who can also be involved in the state management."

Sabir Rustamxanli
Nominated by the Civic Solidarity Party which he founded and chairs. He was born in 1946 in the village of Hamarkand in Yardimli District. He graduated from Baku State University’s philology department in 1968.

Rustamxanli is a prominent Azerbaijani writer. His first book was published in 1970. He founded Azerbaijan’s first independent newspaper, Azarbaycan, in 1989. He was elected a member of parliament in 1990, 1995 and 2000. Rustamxanli was press and information minister in 1991-95.

On development of the national economy, Rustamxanli said in a campaign
broadcast: "We have drafted a special model of the national economy. We are not averse to foreign investment. Let foreign investment flow into the country. We can create fairer conditions for it. But the national economy should develop along with foreign investment.

"Are there no men with money and possibilities to build a plant, a cannery, a flour mill, a nut plant in Azerbaijani villages? I think there are lots of such people. We have deterred those people by corruption and injustice."

"Ganca, which is expected to have a million-strong population in the future, should be urgently turned into a big industrial, tourist and cultural centre and be granted the status of the country’s second capital. Naxcivan, Lankaran and Sumqayit should become free economic zones. Azerbaijan’s border towns should urgently become industrial centres. And finally, Agdam should become a large centre in the heart of Karabakh with a population of about 200,000 people."

Data collected from:

Azerbaijani TV Channel One

Azerbaijani ANS TV

Azerbaijani news agency Turan

Azerbaijani news agency Sarq

Azerbaijani newspaper Zerkalo

Azerbaijani newspaper 525-ci Qazet

Azerbaijani newspaper Sarq

Azerbaijani Central Electoral Commission

Links

Azerbaijani president

Azerbaijani prime Minister

Independent information centre on elections (in Azeri)

Internews Azerbaijan

Baku Sun

Baku Today

Caspian Business News

Source: BBC Monitoring research in English 2 Oct 03

BBC Mon TCU 021003 at/fa

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Posted October 3, 2003 © Eurasianet
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