Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has made an extraordinary statement calling all political parties for dialogue and reconciliation. Although such implications were made earlier by the President, they were not followed by any specific actions. Aliyev confirmed his proposal by issuing a decree pardoning 266 people, including the notorious separatist Alikram Humbatov, charged with high treason, and other individuals included into the Council of Europe list of people regarded as political prisoners. This is the fourth amnesty decree signed by Ilham Aliyev during his presidency. (09-SEP-2004)
The previous amnesty, issued in May, pardoned 363 people serving their prison terms.
Mentioning that the decree pardons individuals considered by the CE as political prisoners, the President said the decision was made not because these persons are indeed political prisoners but in an effort to put an end to the “stand-off environment” in Azerbaijan. National unity has been achieved in a move to resolve the problems faced by the country, and it needs to be further strengthened, Aliyev said and called for leaving feud and discrepancies behind. “I would be pleased if the opposition accepts this, otherwise, it will be to blame”, the President said. MP from the ruling party Rabiyat Aslanova said similar statements calling for dialogue were made by the President before, as on the eve of the presidential election, Ilham Aliyev appealed to all political forces in the country and called for unity. “The President´s latest statement once again confirmed that he is a President for all of us, and, therefore, I appreciate it.” Aslanova said all confrontations between the authorities and the opposition must remain in the past, while the latter should accept the President´s statement which represents importance for the country´s future. Chairman of opposition Party of National Independence of Azerbaijan (PNIA) Etibar Mammadov gave a positive assessment to President Aliyev´s proposal. He mentioned that immediately after the last presidential election, he also offered to start a dialogue with the authorities. However, Mammadov stated that although such statements were made by the President earlier, they were not confirmed by any concrete actions.
Opposition skeptical
“I admit that we have also made mistakes in the past which are regularly discussed by the party. Personally, I am ready for dialogue, but the authorities must take real steps in this area.” At the same time, the PNIA chairman said by lifting pressure from the opposition, the ruling party and the authorities will actually take the first step in realizing such a dialogue. “However, if this does not take place, President Aliyev´s statement made on several occasions over the past year may be questioned”, he said. Expressing a hope that the stalling dialogue problem would be eventually resolved, Mammadov said he believes that the current situation in Azerbaijan and the country´s national interests may be subjects for discussions between the authorities and the opposition.
Commenting on the matter, leader of opposition Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA) Ali Karimli also said that the President´s statement must be confirmed by real steps. He said the reason for the confrontation between the opposition and the authorities is the latter´s pressure on opposition parties. “Violating fundamental liberties and rights, falsifying the elections, tortures against political prisoners and other numerous facts represent the environment created by the authorities. And if the President has serious intentions for dialogue, the attitude toward political opponents must be changed”, Karimli said. The PFPA chairman went on to say that the relations between the authorities and the opposition must be within the framework of law, which means that the latter must be considered not as an enemy but as an integral part of the country´s public. “The reason for all these disagreements is the violation of free speech and the right to fair and democratic elections. I believe that if the authorities create suitable conditions for revitalizing democracy and provide for a democratic election, the two political sides may form civilized relations, like in any democratic state.” However, Karimli said he was not confident that the President´s call for dialogue should be considered as an official statement. Most likely Aliyev was answering a question on the issue and “believing this as a serious intention is groundless”, he added. A similar view was expressed by the Secretary of the Azerbaijan Democratic Party (ADP) on ideological issues Aydin Guliyev. He said that the President´s statement sounded uncertain and that terming it as a call for reconciliation would be erroneous. “On the other hand, the authorities possess enough potential to prevent all kinds of confrontations with the opposition.” Guliyev continued that the authorities should take the first step toward reconciliation. He said the ruling elite is capable of relieving the tense situation in the country and foster unity among political forces. “As long as political prisoners are in jail, while representatives of political parties are subject to pressure, dismissals from jobs, court hearings, notably, the disgraceful trials over opposition leaders, no changes between the two political sides are in the offing”, he said. The mentioned statement by the President concerning a dialogue has not taken seriously by the opposition, as the latter believes that the government is using this as means of propaganda. This is the position of leading opposition parties. However, it is possible that the dialogue proposal will be supported by such parties as Adalat, Civil Solidarity Party, and Yurddash. Nonetheless, this would not be enough to consider this as a common standpoint of the opposition on the issue.
