"National Council of Democratic Forces" sets new date for protest rally

After Baku executive power refused to sanction the opposition rally on 21 April, the “National Council of Democratic Forces” (NCDF) decided to hold the rally on 5 May, chairman of the National Council of Democratic Forces Jamil Hasanli told .

According to him, some changes will be made in the requirements of the rally.

Recall that in the rally scheduled for 21 April, the opposition demanded the release of political prisoners, electoral reform, improvement of the social situation of the population, opening of land borders and withdrawal of the Russian troops from Azerbaijan.

“Certain actions are being taken due to one of our demands – the withdrawal of Russian troops. However, the withdrawal of troops has not been fully implemented and there is no information when this process will be finalised. Therefore, this point is preserved in the demands of the 5 May rally,” Hasanli noted. 

According to him, the resolution of the 5 May rally will be supplemented with another serious demand. “We demand rejection of the declaration on allied cooperation between Azerbaijan and the Russian Federation dated 22 February 2022. It contains articles limiting the sovereignty of Azerbaijan. According to the legislation, the President cannot sign documents that infringe on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

In this document, the President has exceeded his powers. For example, in the declaration there is a clause on coordination of foreign policy between Azerbaijan and Russia. What does it mean? Azerbaijan cannot conduct its foreign policy at its own discretion. Azerbaijan should coordinate its foreign policy with Russia, take into account its interests. In this document, 6-7 articles infringe on the sovereignty of Azerbaijan,” Hasanli said.