Turan News Agency, BBC Monitoring,
24, May 2008

Baku,: The so-called group of the five - members of the Musavat Party, AMIP (Azarbaycan Milli Istiqlal Party), Progress party, the Democratic Party and the Public Forum For Azerbaijan - met at the Musavat Party headquarters last Saturday [24 May].

The meeting supported a bill on changes and additions to the Electoral Code drawn up by the parliamentary opposition, the Musavat press service told Turan. Participants in the meeting described as reactionary draft amendments to the Electoral Code submitted to parliament by the authorities.

The five decided to suggest that the Azadliq bloc accept their position in the aforementioned issue.

For his part, the deputy chairman of the PFAP [People's Front of Azerbaijan Party], Hasan Karimov, told Turan that the Azadliq bloc did not intend to discuss election law reforms with the five. First, the PFAP, the Liberal Party, the Democratic Party and Musavat submitted to parliament draft amendments to the election law back in 2005. Second, some from the group of five parties have already announced that they will participate in the [October presidential] election. "Given this, what is the point of discussions with the parties that accept the existing legal conditions and will take part in the election," Karimov said.

The Azadliq bloc comprises the PFAP, the Citizens and Development Party and the National Unity Movement.