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2007 Assessment

Azerbaijan: Integrity Indicators Scorecard

Azerbaijan: Integrity Scorecard Report > Sub-Category: Political Financing
Indicators		Score
20	Are there regulations governing political financing?	71
21	Are the regulations governing political financing effective?	29
22	Can citizens access records related to political financing?	17

Indicator and sub-Indicator Details

Are there regulations governing political financing?

20a: In law, there are regulations governing private contributions to political parties.

Score:

YES

Comments: There are regulations governing political financing. According to the Law on Political Parties (article 17), political parties do not have the right to get any financial assistance from foreign states, including foreign companies. Any financial aid from foreign sources is prohibited by law. According to article number 18 of that code, incomes of political parties can be the following: memberships, income from estate renting/sales, incomes from events, publications, articles, etc.

References: Reference: Law on Political Parties of Azerbaijan Republic.

20b: In law, there are limits on individual donations to candidates and political parties.

Score:

YES

Comments: According to the Election Code (article number 156.2), individual donations to candidates in the parliamentary elections and to political parties can not exceed US$630.

References: Reference: The Election Code of Azerbaijan Republic.

Peer Review Comments: It says that voluntary donations cannot exceed 500 times the conventional financial unit, which is 1.1 manat (US$1.3) at the present time.

20c: In law, there are limits on corporate donations to candidates and political parties.

Score:

YES

Comments: According to the Election Code (article number 156.2), cooperative donations to candidates in the parliamentary elections and to political parties can not exceed US$12,650.

References: Reference: The Election Code of Azerbaijan Republic.

Peer Review Comments: The limit is 10,000 times the conventional financial unit (10,000 x 1.1 = 11,000 manat=US$12,965)

20d: In law, there are limits on total political party expenditures.

Score:

YES

Comments: There are no limits for political parties at all.

References: Reference: Law on Political Parties of Azerbaijan Republic.

20e: In law, there are requirements for disclosure of donations to political candidates and parties.

Score:

YES

$Scoring Criteria :: YES: A YES score is earned if there are any requirements mandating the disclosure of financial contributions to political parties or candidates. NO: A NO score is earned if there are no requirements mandating the disclosure of contributions to political parties or candidates, existing regulations do not require a donor\'s name or amount given, or the regulations allow for anonymous donations.$

Comments: According to the Election Code (articles number 95.1 and 95.3), registered candidates, political parties and political party groups should publish their financial reports no later than five days after they were registered.

References: Reference: The Election Code of Azerbaijan Republic.

20f: In law, there are requirements for the independent auditing of the finances of political parties and candidates.

Score:

YES

Comments: There is no requirement for the auditing of finances of political parties and candidates in the legislation in Azerbaijan. However, the tax department can check financial activities of political parties and candidates.

References: Reference: The Tax Code of Azerbaijan Republic.

20g: In law, there is an agency or entity that monitors the political financing process.

Score:

YES

Comments: The tax department monitors the political financing process by checking financial activities usually one a year.

References: Reference: The Tax Code of Azerbaijan Republic.

Are the regulations governing political financing effective?

21a: In practice, the limits on individual donations to candidates and political parties are effective in regulating an individual's ability to financially support a candidate or political party.

Score:

100

Comments: There are no limits on individual donations to candidates and political parties. However, there are informal restrictions. In practice, there are problems with individual donations to pro-government candidates and political parties. The government harasses the individuals who finance opposition parties and candidates. The government uses different obstacles to prevent them from financiing opposition parties.

References: Reference: "Yeni Musavat" newspaper reports (March 2007 through July 2007) www.musavat.com

21b: In practice, the limits on corporate donations to candidates and political parties are effective in regulating a company's ability to financially support a candidate or political party.

Score:

100

Comments: There are no limits on corporate donations to candidates and political parties. However, there are informal restrictions to do it. Some companies were closed due to their election campaign support of opposition parties.

References: www.musavat.com

21c: In practice, the limits on total party expenditures are effective in regulating a political party's ability to fund campaigns or politically-related activities.

Score:

100

Comments: There are no limits on total party expenditures in general, but the legislation does put some limits on total party expenditures for the election process.

References: www.musavat.com

21d: In practice, when necessary, an agency or entity monitoring political financing independently initiates investigations.

Score:

100

Comments: The tax department can monitor political financing, however, there are no independent investigations.

References: Reference: Interview with Mehemmed Talibli, chairman of Economic Innovations Center (August 2007).

Peer Review Comments: In practice, there haven't been any independent investigations.

Peer Review Comments: The Central Election Commission also monitors candidates' and political parties' expenditures during the election period.

21e: In practice, when necessary, an agency or entity monitoring political financing imposes penalties on offenders.

Score:

100

Comments: The tax department has the right to impose penalties while monitoring political financing, something it does no more than once a year. There are no facts, however, that the tax department has imposed penalties on major political parties.

References: www.azadliq.az

Peer Review Comments: This also depends on the political will of the government.

21f: In practice, contributions to political parties and candidates are audited.

Score:

100

Comments: The legislation does not require independent auditing, therefore no auditing is taking place on contributions to political parties and candidates.

References: Referene: Interview with Azer Mehtiyev, chairman of the Center for Economic Initiatives.

Can citizens access records related to political financing?

22a: In practice, political parties and candidates disclose data relating to financial support and expenditures within a reasonable time period.

Score:

100

Comments: In practice, political parties and candidates do not only not disclose data relating to financial support and expenditures within a reasonable time period, they usually don't do it at all.

References: Reference: Institute for Peace and Democracy's Reports [ LINK ]

Peer Review Comments: I agree that they usually don't do it at all.

22b: In practice, citizens can access the financial records of political parties and candidates within a reasonable time period.

Score:

100

Comments: Usually there is no access to such information.

References: Reference: Institute for Peace and Democracy in Azerbaijan.

Peer Review Comments: Access to financial records of political parties is hindered not by time, but by the unwillingness of parties to comply with financial disclosure requirements, as well as inefficient enforcement mechanisms.

22c: In practice, citizens can access the financial records of political parties and candidates at a reasonable cost.

Score:

100

Comments: Since usually there is no access to such information; no cost is occurred in this process.

References: www.ekspert.az

Peer Review Comments: There is no mechanism for it.

Peer Review Comments: There is no such practice thus far.