Epress.am News from Armenia
The 9th and final debate on Azerbaijani public television among presidential hopefuls occurred again without the participation of the incumbent, Ilham Aliyev.
"Voters haven't lost anything great, because in terms of intelligence, Aliyev doesn't differ much from those representing him," said the main subject of the ruling authorities' attacks, the newly created National Council of Democratic Forces' candidate Jamil Hasanli, commenting on Aliyev's absence.
As reported by Contact.az, Hasanli's statement angered Modern Equality (Müasir Müsavat) party leader Hafiz Hajiyev (also transliterated as Haciyev), who once again called Hasanli a "father-in-law of an Armenian".
Hasanli, however, recalled that Hajiyev was arrested in 1996 after he announced that Aliyev's mother was Armenian. Afterwards, according to Contact.az, Hajiyev was flushed and nervous, speaking in short sentences during his allotted time, repeating the same thing the whole time: "Hasanli, Ali Karimli, and Isa Gambar are traitors; the people don't support them," and so on. Concluding, he called Hasanli a "hooligan".
Ilham Aliyev's representative, Ali Ahmedov, called Hasanli's statement about the president slander and again urged citizens to vote for Aliyev, "in the name of a strong Azerbaijan."
As usual, Hasanli and that National Council of Democratic Forces were subject to attack also by candidates Zahid Orudj, Gudrat Hasanguliyev, and Araz Alizade.
In the remaining time, Hasanli presented his election campaign, promising to declare a gold amnesty if elected. Furthermore, he promised to lower price two-fold for electricity, water, and gas; and to lift restrictions on citizens of Georgia of Azerbaijani descent in Azerbaijan; to double the salaries and pensions of teachers, doctors and civil servants; and to increase 20-fold mortgage funds; and to lower interest rates of mortgage loans for young people.