Azerbaijani former official: War is declared against democratic forces and international organizations

The leader of the Azerbaijani People’s Party, Azerbaijani former Prime Minister Panah Huseyn in an interview with “Voice of America” and Turan shared his vision of dialogue between the authorities and the opposition. He himself was one of the initiators of this meeting, but he did not come to a meeting with Ali Hasanov. Why?

Answering this question, Huseynov said that in fact it was not a dialogue, it was a meeting of representatives of political parties with the head of the presidential administration, Ali Hasanov. Contact.az writes about this.

“The reason why I did not participate in the meeting is the political situation which changed in the last month. During this period, the internal situation has deteriorated dramatically. Khadiha Ismailova was arrested, there are harsh accusations against opposition from Fuad Aleskerov, Head of the department of the Administration, and the head of the Presidential Administration Ramiz Mehdiyev.

In fact , a war has been declared against democratic forces and international organizations. Under such an atmosphere it is senseless to talk about the feasibility of dialogue or meeting,” said Hussein.

What should be done to hold a real dialogue? First of all it is necessary to ensure participation of “Musavat” party and the Popular Front in the dialogue, Huseynov said. In addition, there must be authoritative representatives of civil society. There must be the head of the National Council Jamil Hasanli. In the case of this composition, matching the topics discussed, and developing a mechanism for their implementation, it would be possible to speak about real dialogue.

What issues should be on the agenda?

Huseyn said that certain conditions should be met. First of all, it concerns the release of political prisoners. With regard to the topics discussed, it should be a matter of fundamental political and economic reforms.

Separately, it is necessary to consider the Karabakh settlement, the parliamentary elections of 2015, the Electoral Code.

If there is a good will of the parties then certain compromise is possible. However, much depends primarily on the authorities. Does the atmosphere in the country promote for such a dialogue?

Ex-prime minister said that the government endlessly states their successes, achievements, stability and so on. However, the experience of other countries shows that internal threats in the form of a possible social explosion are very real. Normal dialogue with all political forces could remove a significant portion of the tension, which for many years has been accumulated in the society, said Panah Huseyn.