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MUTUAL ACCUSATIONS IN THE AZERBAIJANI OPPOSITION CAMP
http://artsakhtert.com/eng/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1120:-mutual-accusations-in-the-azerbaijani-opposition-camp&catid=5:politics&Itemid=17
Thursday, 08 August 2013 12:06
What is the scenario of unitary opposition candidate, screenwriter
Rustam Ibragimbekov's game?
A good opportunity for having a clear idea of the opposition forces
in the Azerbaijani political field has appeared: on the eve of the
presidential elections, each of them is intended to expose others'
nature.
They make mutual accusations, and in this context, it becomes clear
that there is no common view on an alternative candidate in the
opposition camp so far.
Last week, the Azeri media published a statement by the leader of one
of the opposition forces - Azerbaijani Citizens and Development Party,
Ali Aliyev, in which he demonstrated the activity of the National
Council coordinating the actions of the Azerbaijani opposition. Let's
recall his idea, according to which the confusion among the political
forces within the Council is expected, as they are in completely
different political fields. He accused, first of all, leaders of
Musavat andOpen Society Parties Issa Gambar and Rasul Guliyev of
the confusion. And then he justified the formality of the National
Council's struggle by the fact that, in fact, the political parties are
united by common principles, ideologies and methods of struggle and not
merely by the factor of presidential elections. The Musavatconsiders
that the issue of participation in the elections is indisputable,
and R. Guliyev's party considers it right to boycott the elections,
if the Central Election Commission of Azerbaijan refuses to register
Rustam Ibragimbekov as a presidential candidate. Aliyev's assessment
cannot be regarded as unfounded, considering the fact of Guliyev's
living outside Azerbaijan and his inability to return to the country
and to take part in the elections. And Issa Gambar, according to
Aliyev's determination, is not going to occupy a princely hill,
but merely to pass to the "political pension". Therefore, he needs
political dividends only for his personality.
The Azerbaijani political forces' attention is mainly focused on
the single opposition candidate, Russian Federation citizen, famous
screenwriter Rustam Ibragimbekov, and in this respect, the views of
the opposition cause certain interest.
According to leader of the Azerbaijani Social-Democratic Party
Araz Alizade, recently, screenwriter Rustam Ibragimbekov has often
contradicted himself.
Alizade draws attention to the incoherent statements of the artist
related to the dual citizenship and nomination of another candidate
from the National Council. "Whatever he does is fabrication",
Alizade stressed. At the same time, he expressed deep regret that
the experienced screenwriter has wrong notion of the presidential
elections, therefore, he cannot rely on the Azerbaijani people.
The July 29 interview of Radio Liberty with Rustam Ibragimbekov also
attracts attention. The candidate informed the media that he would
return on July 31 and would actively get involved in the pre-election
campaign. At the same time, he expressed his concern, saying that if
he returned to Baku, then the coming months could become the heaviest
in his life, since he would be arrested upon his arrival in Baku.
The Radio reported that a representative of the Azerbaijani
prosecutor's office had stated that they would open a criminal case
against Chairman of the Cinematographers Union Rustam Ibragimbekov
who had held the position for many years, avoiding paying state taxes
in about $15.000 and, besides, appropriating the funds allocated from
the state budget for the East-West Film Festival.
On July 30, Ibragimbekov arrived in Tbilisi and not in Baku, where
representatives of the National Council held a meeting and decided to
appeal to Russian President Vladimir Putin for accelerating the process
of single opposition candidate Rustam Ibragimbekov's abandoning the
Russian citizenship. That's why his arrival in Baku was delayed.
A day before the distribution of this news, the Azerbaijani unofficial
media ironically wrote that there were so many unresolved problems in
Azerbaijan that Ibragimbekov's arrival or non-arrival in Baku meant
almost nothing.
The assessments in the opposition camp cause an impression that
opposition candidate Rustam Ibragimbekov is involved in a political
game rather than in a struggle. And, indeed, to follow the statements
made by the screenwriter from last year's autumn up today, they seem
to confirm this hypothesis. First, he made statements from Moscow,
addressing Ilham Aliyev and giving him political lessons, leading to a
single idea - Azerbaijan cannot remain a totalitarian state, instead,
it should build its future in a democratic way. The screenwriter's
second lesson given to Ilham Aliyev was that Karabakh is an Armenian
land and the misrepresentation of this reality will not increase the
rating of the ruling regime.
Some time later, Azerbaijani sources reported that Ibragimbekov
had arrived in Baku, met with representatives of the country's
political forces, noting the impossibility of nominating Ilham Aliyev
for the third presidential term. It seemed that the Azerbaijani
intelligentsia from Russia was preparing for a radical revolution,
but this belief was ruined by his idea that nominating Mehriban
Khanum was right. 'Revealing' the possibilities of the Azerbaijani
First Lady, he actually put himself out of the political struggle. And
when he announced himself as a unitary opposition candidate during the
registration of presidential candidates, some politicians characterized
it as a kind of arrangement reached with the Azerbaijani President. And
now the opposition candidate is speaking about political persecution
by the authorities.
The future will show how events will develop. We believe that it is
necessary to add another fact to the abovementioned, which would
not be correct to ignore. According to preliminary information,
RF President Vladimir Putin's visit to Baku is scheduled for October.
Political experts expressed an opinion that the Kremlin didn't seem to
oppose Ilham Aliyev's election for the third term. It can be concluded
that screenwriter Ibragimbekov's game, so to speak, is integrated into
a big geopolitical game, and his arrival in Baku is losing its urgency.
Ruzan ISHKHANIAN
http://artsakhtert.com/eng/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1120:-mutual-accusations-in-the-azerbaijani-opposition-camp&catid=5:politics&Itemid=17
Thursday, 08 August 2013 12:06
What is the scenario of unitary opposition candidate, screenwriter
Rustam Ibragimbekov's game?
A good opportunity for having a clear idea of the opposition forces
in the Azerbaijani political field has appeared: on the eve of the
presidential elections, each of them is intended to expose others'
nature.
They make mutual accusations, and in this context, it becomes clear
that there is no common view on an alternative candidate in the
opposition camp so far.
Last week, the Azeri media published a statement by the leader of one
of the opposition forces - Azerbaijani Citizens and Development Party,
Ali Aliyev, in which he demonstrated the activity of the National
Council coordinating the actions of the Azerbaijani opposition. Let's
recall his idea, according to which the confusion among the political
forces within the Council is expected, as they are in completely
different political fields. He accused, first of all, leaders of
Musavat andOpen Society Parties Issa Gambar and Rasul Guliyev of
the confusion. And then he justified the formality of the National
Council's struggle by the fact that, in fact, the political parties are
united by common principles, ideologies and methods of struggle and not
merely by the factor of presidential elections. The Musavatconsiders
that the issue of participation in the elections is indisputable,
and R. Guliyev's party considers it right to boycott the elections,
if the Central Election Commission of Azerbaijan refuses to register
Rustam Ibragimbekov as a presidential candidate. Aliyev's assessment
cannot be regarded as unfounded, considering the fact of Guliyev's
living outside Azerbaijan and his inability to return to the country
and to take part in the elections. And Issa Gambar, according to
Aliyev's determination, is not going to occupy a princely hill,
but merely to pass to the "political pension". Therefore, he needs
political dividends only for his personality.
The Azerbaijani political forces' attention is mainly focused on
the single opposition candidate, Russian Federation citizen, famous
screenwriter Rustam Ibragimbekov, and in this respect, the views of
the opposition cause certain interest.
According to leader of the Azerbaijani Social-Democratic Party
Araz Alizade, recently, screenwriter Rustam Ibragimbekov has often
contradicted himself.
Alizade draws attention to the incoherent statements of the artist
related to the dual citizenship and nomination of another candidate
from the National Council. "Whatever he does is fabrication",
Alizade stressed. At the same time, he expressed deep regret that
the experienced screenwriter has wrong notion of the presidential
elections, therefore, he cannot rely on the Azerbaijani people.
The July 29 interview of Radio Liberty with Rustam Ibragimbekov also
attracts attention. The candidate informed the media that he would
return on July 31 and would actively get involved in the pre-election
campaign. At the same time, he expressed his concern, saying that if
he returned to Baku, then the coming months could become the heaviest
in his life, since he would be arrested upon his arrival in Baku.
The Radio reported that a representative of the Azerbaijani
prosecutor's office had stated that they would open a criminal case
against Chairman of the Cinematographers Union Rustam Ibragimbekov
who had held the position for many years, avoiding paying state taxes
in about $15.000 and, besides, appropriating the funds allocated from
the state budget for the East-West Film Festival.
On July 30, Ibragimbekov arrived in Tbilisi and not in Baku, where
representatives of the National Council held a meeting and decided to
appeal to Russian President Vladimir Putin for accelerating the process
of single opposition candidate Rustam Ibragimbekov's abandoning the
Russian citizenship. That's why his arrival in Baku was delayed.
A day before the distribution of this news, the Azerbaijani unofficial
media ironically wrote that there were so many unresolved problems in
Azerbaijan that Ibragimbekov's arrival or non-arrival in Baku meant
almost nothing.
The assessments in the opposition camp cause an impression that
opposition candidate Rustam Ibragimbekov is involved in a political
game rather than in a struggle. And, indeed, to follow the statements
made by the screenwriter from last year's autumn up today, they seem
to confirm this hypothesis. First, he made statements from Moscow,
addressing Ilham Aliyev and giving him political lessons, leading to a
single idea - Azerbaijan cannot remain a totalitarian state, instead,
it should build its future in a democratic way. The screenwriter's
second lesson given to Ilham Aliyev was that Karabakh is an Armenian
land and the misrepresentation of this reality will not increase the
rating of the ruling regime.
Some time later, Azerbaijani sources reported that Ibragimbekov
had arrived in Baku, met with representatives of the country's
political forces, noting the impossibility of nominating Ilham Aliyev
for the third presidential term. It seemed that the Azerbaijani
intelligentsia from Russia was preparing for a radical revolution,
but this belief was ruined by his idea that nominating Mehriban
Khanum was right. 'Revealing' the possibilities of the Azerbaijani
First Lady, he actually put himself out of the political struggle. And
when he announced himself as a unitary opposition candidate during the
registration of presidential candidates, some politicians characterized
it as a kind of arrangement reached with the Azerbaijani President. And
now the opposition candidate is speaking about political persecution
by the authorities.
The future will show how events will develop. We believe that it is
necessary to add another fact to the abovementioned, which would
not be correct to ignore. According to preliminary information,
RF President Vladimir Putin's visit to Baku is scheduled for October.
Political experts expressed an opinion that the Kremlin didn't seem to
oppose Ilham Aliyev's election for the third term. It can be concluded
that screenwriter Ibragimbekov's game, so to speak, is integrated into
a big geopolitical game, and his arrival in Baku is losing its urgency.
Ruzan ISHKHANIAN