Ruling party tops list of local vote hopefuls

So far, 180 members of the ruling party have nominated their candidacies for the upcoming vote, the senior electoral body, Central Election Commission (CEC), said.

According to AssA-Irada, 443 out of 481 people willing to run for the municipal elections have received signature papers from the Commission and 56 of them submitted their signature lists. The CEC has registered 24 hopefuls so far.

Pro-opposition Civil Solidarity, Whole Popular Front, Social Welfare and other parties have nominated their candidates for the municipal elections.

Five members of the opposition Popular Front Party included in the major Azadlig bloc, which earlier decided to boycott the municipal elections, and one member of the Musavat Party have also nominated their candidatures.

The vote will cover a total of 604 municipalities. Repeat polls will be held in 141 bodies where the results of the 2004 vote were cancelled, by-elections in some municipalities and a new poll in the newly-formed municipalities. 1,941 seats will be contested in 83 electoral constituencies.

The decision came after the Council of Europe Congress of Local and Regional Authorities warned that the Azeri mandate may be suspended if a rerun of the poll is not held by the year-end.

/AzerNEWS/