5. Opposition to boycott poll

Parl't (parliament) passes law allowing President to nominate all members of Central Election Commission. Opposition candidates vowed to boycott a presidential election in Azerbaijan after parliament passed a controversial law that the opposition says will allow the President to manipulate the poll. The parliament approved the second of two bills that require a new election before presidential fiver year term expires. But the President has not yet signed the two bills into law.

However all the likely main opposition candidates said the draft legislation was flawed and would allow the President, who dominates political life in the oil-rich former Soviet republic, to use fraud to try and stay in power. There was no official reaction to their charges. Several opposition figures called for street protests to force the government to change the laws.

The candidates object to provisions allowing the President and his supporters in parliament to nominate all members of the Central Election Commission. They say the laws also give police and security officials the right to be present at polling places, and limit the ability of opposition candidates to protest against irregularities. "We intend to boycott this anti-democratic election and will show our protest by organizing demonstrations and meetings."

The authorities weren't ready for elections from the very start and that's why they came up with these laws," said the leader of the Popular Front. "The laws give the authorities the means to fully control the elections process," he said. The Popular Front had intended to nominate its leader to run for the presidency, which has a five-year term. Changes were made in 32 of the 59 articles of the law adopted on June 9 but opposition figures said they had been merely cosmetic and an earlier law allowing the President to control electoral boards remained untouched. This law is the latest mistake by an illegally elected parliament and if the President signs it, he is making a big mistake," said another probable candidate, adding he intended to boycott as well.

A representative of the Liberal Party, the only woman in the field, said she would also boycott. A former speaker of parliament now residing abroad who is wanted by the government for alleged corruption and plotting to overthrow the current leader, had also intended to run, but a spokesman said he would stay out as well. Only a representative of the small national Independence Party, which supports the President on most issues, said he would take part. Foreign diplomats have said the laws are not up to democratic standards and could preclude any hope of a clean election, in Azerbaijan, which has vast reserves of offshore Caspian Sea crude oil and natural gas.

The President has signed nearly USD 40 billion in contracts with foreign firms to help develop the reserves. He has fended off persistent charges of corruption in his government. A one time head of the republic's KQB security service who ran Azerbaijan as its Soviet Communist boss in the 1970s and 1980s, – he has dominated its political life since returning to power in 1993. He won more than 90 percent of the vote in an election in which he faced no serious competition. International observers said a parliamentary vote in 1995 had serious irregularities.