By Ivan Gharibyan

A new political show, “local elections”, is being put on in Azerbaijan. The election campaign is to reach its culmination on the New Year eve. So Ilham Aliyev, the son of “the national leader Heydar Aliyev” will have something to celebrate. It is the right moment, as Azerbaijan has lately been “unlucky” in the international arena: it has even come to controversies with the “big brother”, Turkey.

Now it is an excellent opportunity to show the triumph of Azerbaijani democracy, and the ones that will take notice of the event throughout the world will laugh heartily. This can be the only reaction to the reports like “A concert on the occasion of the end of the elections in the Khachmass region began at 7:00 p.m.” or “More than 93% turnout in Nakhichevan.”

The ruling party New Azerbaijan has a lot of work to do. Although the present number of municipalities is 1,764 against the previous 2,757, the ruling partocrats have to “spare no effort.” The supporters of the Aliyev clan have to nominate one candidate in most of the municipalities, form a bloc with unaffiliated people (10-15 per cent of posts intended for them) and, for show, let the Opposition to have some seats.

Active work is in progress. Azeri mass media report that over 1,000 candidates of the New Azerbaijan Party have submitted subscription lists and got registered at election commissions. As regards the Opposition, which is in information blockade, it has nothing to do but put up with its role of an “appendage”.

The greatest achievement of modern-day Azeri democracy is closely following the principle of appointing the head of the Baku administration. Mayor of Baku is appointed by the President himself, and no one is going to grant the Baku residents the right to elect their Mayor.

Of course, with the present alignment of political forces, or rather a complete lack of any alternative to the Aliyev clan, a ruling party member would in any case fill the post. With this power system, however, the Azerbaijani President should not, time and again, claim his country to be “matchless” in the region. It is really so, though. Neither Armenian nor Georgian TV viewers will ever see the picture of the ex-president and “national leader” appear in the upper corner of the screen every holiday.