Azerbaijan, Baku, 14 May / corr. Trend I. Alizade/ Restrictions have been imposed on canvassing of the presidential candidates on the private TV and radio channels in line with the changes to the Election Code of Azerbaijan.
"According to the changes made into the Election Code, the presidential candidates can carry out their canvassing on the private TV channels and radio stations in line with the Bill on Commercials," Latif Huseynov, the member of Azerbaijan in the Venice Commission, said during the discussions in the Standing Parliament Commission on Judicial Law and Statehood over the draft of changes to the Election Code on 14 May.
The changes and additions have been made into the Election Code of Azerbaijan, as a result of the discussions between Azerbaijan and Venice Commission of the Council of Europe. According to changes, a free canvassing for the presidential candidates on the state-owned TV and radio and state press has been banned. According to the previous Election Code, the presidential candidates were granted 6 hour free air time. Apart from this, they could carry out canvassing on the private TV channels in the course of a day.
However, now the presidential candidates can have free air time only in Public TV. According to Bill on Commercials, the presidential candidates can have 25 minutes of air time in the private channels during the course of a day.
The presidential elections in Azerbaijan will be held on 15 October.
The MP Gudrat Hasanguliyev, who took part in the discussions, protested against the changes. According to Hasanguliyev, new changes can create setbacks in canvassing of the candidates by means of air time on the TV channels.
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