Azerbaijan, Baku, 22 August / Trend corr. J.Babayeva / The date to hold the special meeting of the National Democratic Party of Azerbaijan (NDPA) has been announced. Ogtai Khalili, chairman of the Organization Committee of the party, told Trend that the meeting would be held in the Baku theatre on 24 August.
According to Khalili, NDPA has appealed to the Baku City Administration to allocate the aforesaid theatre to hold a meeting. "On 22 August, we received an unexpected response to our appeal," Khalili said.
NDPA, formerly known as the Grey Wolves Party, is a political party in Azerbaijan. It is the branch of the Grey Wolves in Azerbaijan. Isgandar Hamidov, a party member, was the Internal Minister of Azerbaijan of the Azerbaijan Popular Front Party government. The party was banned in 1995 and Hamidov imprisoned, however, the party is again functioning today with Hamidov as the party leader. The party is known for its fiery nationalist rhetoric and favoring a military solution to Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. In 1999, party's name was changed into National-Democratic party. Hamidov, who was sentenced to 14 years of imprisonment, was pardoned by President decree in 2004.
In April 2008, Hamidov resigned from the chairmanship position. Hamidov explained his step as there were worthy people to the chairmanship position in the party.
According to Khalili, the election of a new chairman to the party will be the key issue of the meeting. "So far, officially Tufan Karimli, chairman of the party Assembly, has nominated his candidature to the position. Despite, Shahin Agabayli, chief editor of the Milli Yol newspaper, has expressed a will no nominate his own candidature, he has not submitted documents. The candidates are expected to submit their document at the meting," Khalili said.
The framework of NDPA participation in the presidential elections will also be defined at the meeting.
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