Zardusht Alizade: "One of the greatest problems is absence of intellectual potential of the local opposition"

- Chairman of Azerbaijan Popular Front Party Ali Kerimli said the session of Supreme Medjlis to define form of boycott of presidential elections by the Azadlyg bloc will be held in June. Do you think the boycott of presidential elections by the Azadlyg bloc will be effective?

- Boycott turns out to be a powerful means, when it is not fragmentary but mass. Unfortunately, overall unity of the opposition and its unity on the said issue can not even been dreamed of. In other words, if the Azadlyg bloc declares boycott of elections, the parties, calling themselves opposition, will certainly take part in the elections. In such conditions Azadlyg bloc will have no effect from its actions.

Such state is quite clear: the thing is that the Azerbaijani authorities, bribing a part of opposition and staking on the split of its another part, have attained incredulous crash of public trust to opposition.

- Thus, you think that boycott of elections will not give Azadlyg bloc any political dividends?

- The Azadlyg bloc is anyway not so influential in the society and by boycotting elections they will lose a chance to remind about their existence to our citizens. Anyway, the participation of the parties, represented in the bloc, in the presidential elections is not important, as their participation will lead to assigning the next lowest percents to them, which the opposition will not be able to oppose. Problems of the opposition, created partially by their fault and partially by authorities, are too great.

And the biggest of the problems is absence of intellectual potential of local opposition.

- What will participation in the presidential elections give to other opposition parties, not joining the Azadlyg bloc, for example Single Popular Front party, whose chairman Qudrat Hasanquliyev has already nominated his candidacy for a president?

- Also nothing significant. For example, Qudrat Hasanquliyev will get as many votes as the authorities will assign to him. If the authorities decide to make him the main opposition figure at the coming elections, his percents will be higher, but if the authorities have another candidacy for this role, Qudrat bey will have lower percents.

- But why immediately after Hasanquliyev voiced decision to partake in the presidential elections, his party faced problems with office?

- There is nothing surprising about it. These are the rules of the game of opposition. The authorities need to create a stir around the Single Popular Front Party to realize their plans for the upcoming presidential elections.

- How should an ordinary citizen of Azerbaijan define, who is in front of him: a false oppositionist or a true one?

- To answer this question an average citizen of Azerbaijan should recall the events of the last two decades and draw a parallel between the real actions of any politician, his talks and thesis.

Believe me, a simple analysis of our actions will allow to find the answer to the questions about a politician: either he is a true oppositionist or a false one, loyal to the working authorities.

- And the final question: is there a light at the end of this tunnel, called weakness of opposition?

- I am still optimistic about future and I believe that educated, honest young leaders, who can not be deceived, will appear on our political stage.

/Day.Az/