Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/606717
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 25 NOVEMBER 2015 News Speaker, MPs meet Azerbaijani ruler Ilham Aliyev on sham election day Balzan youth dies at 17 of sudden heart attack POLICE were on site at Main Street in Naxxar, where a 17- year-old student at Naxxar High- er Secondary, suffered a heart at- tack and fell dead. He was walking up the hill lead- ing to the school, from Lija. The young man, Matthew Demicoli, worked as a part-time waiter at Wagamama in St Ju- lian's. Students outside the school were in tears as they tried to take in the stark reality of what had just happened. Guidance teachers at the school were comforting the students outside the school. Matthew Demicoli, died at just 17 Maltese MPs exchange pleasantries with Azerbaijani ruler Aliyev while controversial elections were being boycotted by Opposition parties JAMES DEBONO SPEAKER Anglu Farrugia met the President of the Republic of Az- erbaijan Ilham Aliyev on the day when controversial elections were being held in the county. Also present for the visit were Labour MP Joe Debono Grech, a former rapporteur for the Coun- cil of Europe's parliamentary as- sembly to Azerbaijan, Labour MP Joseph M. Sammut, and National- ist MP Frederick Azzopardi. The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe's Of- fice for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights also cancelled its mission to observe the oil-rich nation's elections of 1 November, saying it had no choice due to re- strictions imposed by the Azerbai- jani authorities. Mainstream opposition par- ties, including Musavat and the Popular Front, boycotted the poll, blaming unfair election campaign rules. International rights groups have denounced the vote as an "imitation election," and many analysts say the outcome is a fore- gone conclusion. Aliyev's New Azerbaijan Party was given free television air time in the lead up to the poll. But op- position groups were forced to pay commercial rates, which they say made it unaffordable to reach a wide audience. Over the past two years, Aliyev's government has cracked down heavily on opposition and human rights groups, which many activ- ists say has silenced dissent and curbed freedoms. The official media of Azerbaijan reported that during his meeting with the Maltese Speaker of the House, Aliyev "touched upon the parliamentary elections in Az- erbaijan. Aliyev told Farrigua that the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights was invited to observe the parlia- mentary elections in Azerbaijan, but this organisation grossly vio- lated its mandate and decided not to monitor the elections without raising this issue at the Standing Committee of the OSCE Parlia- mentary Assembly and without informing the OSCE Secretary General." On his part Speaker Anglu Far- rugia was reported saying that he recalled with pleasure his visits to Azerbaijan, as well as his meeting with President Ilham Aliyev, when he visited the country as part of a delegation of OSCE and the Coun- cil of Europe four years ago. Aliyev was reported to have emphasised that the relations between the two countries were developing successfully, in a refer- ence to the ElectroGas plant that is in part being developed by state oil company SOCAR. "Noting that the two countries enjoyed very close and friendly ties, the head of state said Azerbaijan wants to develop partnership relations with Malta." In October 2013, Farrugia de- scribed elections in Azerbaijan – which yielded a staggering 85% to incumbent autocrat Ilham Aliyev – as "fair, democratic and trans- parent" during a meeting with his Azeri counterpart, Ogtay Asadov. His assessment conflicted with that of observers from OSCE who said they had also documented "widespread irregularities, includ- ing ballot box stuffing and what appeared to be fraudulent count- ing". Debono Grech had also failed to make any mention of imprisoned human rights activist Anar Mam- madali during a Council of Europe parliamentary assembly debate on Azerbaijan, after having himself flagged the politically-motivated imprisonment back in 2013. As former co-rapporteur on Azerbaijan, Debono Grech in a debate on a new report on Az- erbaijan's ailing democratic insti- tutions, seemed to complain that Azerbaijan was never absent from the CoE's parliamentary assem- bly's agenda, and warned that the oil- and gas-rich republic could head down the road of Libya or Iraq if President Ilham Aliyev is removed. "Let's make it clear, I do not condone dictatorships," Debono Grech later told MaltaToday, add- ing that Azerbaijan is "not a de- mocracy". However, in the same breath he said that Azerbaijan's situation was delicate given its geographi- cal position and insisted that "the Council of Europe cannot remove the government as the Azerbaijani opposition expects". Toyota Malta For more information contact: Michael Debono Limited 0GLQD5RDGĽHEEXã 7HO VDOHV#WR\RWDFRPPW ZZZWR\RWDFRPPW Toyota Gozo Showroom 0ãDUU5RDG ;HZNLMD;:.*R]R 7HO JJV#WR\RWDFRPPW 5 year WARRANTY DEBONO F I N A N C E ONLY 5.5% VARIABLE RATE OVER 6 YEARS Joe Debono Grech, Joseph M. Sammut, Anglu Farrugia and Frederick Zammit with Ilham Aliyev