Azerbaijan, Baku, 6 May / Trend News corr E. Babayev, I. Alizade/ According to the right opposition Azerbaijan Democratic Party (ADP), there is no social requirement in the country to hold protest rallies. "Though there are serious reasons to hold protest actions, this has not yet turned into a social requirement," Sardar Jalaloglu, chairman of ADP, said to Trend News on 5 May.
On 1 May, the Baku administration allowed Musavat Party to hold a demonstration on 4 May. However, the venue offered by the city administration, Bibi Heybat settlement did not suit the party. The party had specified, as possible venues for the demonstration, the Ukraine Square, the square in front of the former Galaba cinema or a place near the Narimanov subway. The demonstration was cancelled and party is planning to sue the Baku administration.
Jalaloglu said that the demonstration was not postponed because the place offered was in the outskirts of the city. "Should the demonstration be held by Musavat in the place specified by the Baku Administration, we will not be able to assemble the necessary number of participants. And if the party holds an unapproved demonstration, it will not be supported. Musavat must take this into consideration. We believe their decision to hold the demonstration is not serious. Being a Democratic Party, we are waiting social requirements," he said.
"There is no social requirement for mass rallies," Ali Aliyev, Deputy Chairman of the Azadlig opposition bloc and the Chairman of the Citizen and Development Party (CDP), said to Trend News. "Since the parliamentary elections of 2005 the public has been stagnating. The public does not hope anything will change in the country and therefore is in not interested in political processes, including protest actions," Aliyev said.
If the situation with the presidential elections does not change, Azadlig will boycott them.
According to the Chairman of the opposition Umid party, Igbal Agazade, the party does not plan to hold protest actions, because there is no need for them. Arif Hajili, Chairman of the central administration of Musavat, who prefers demonstrations, said to Trend News that the opposition parties opposing mass protest actions has not assessed the on-going situation clearly.
ADP was founded by Sardar Jalaloglu in1991. By January 2007 the party occupied a position against the authorities. The party took a new political course in dialogue with the authorities in January 2007. Rasul Guliyev, the former chairman of the party, and his supporters separated from the party protesting against the new political course of the party and founded their new Open Society Party.
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