Republican Alternative Party (Azerbaijan)

The Republican Alternative Party (Azerbaijani: Respublikaçı Alternativ Partiyası), formerly the Republican Alternative Movement, commonly referred to as the REAL Party or simply REAL, is an Azerbaijani political party founded in January 2009 as a movement by a few young people to achieve democratic and social changes in Azerbaijan.[2] Currently it has more than 500 members comprising mainly young individuals as well as well-known politicians and activists. The head of the party Ilgar Mammadov was arrested before the presidential elections in 2013 but conditionally released on August 13 after 5 years in prison.[3][4]

Republican Alternative Party

Respublikaçı Alternativ Partiyası
LeaderIlgar Mammadov
FoundedJanuary 2009 (2009-01) (movement)
April 2018 (2018-04) (party)
IdeologyRepublicanism
Liberal democracy
National liberalism
Secularism
Pro-Europeanism
Political positionCentre to centre-right[1]
ColoursRed and white
Parliament:
1 / 125
Website
www.realpartiyasi.org

According to the official page of the organization, the main reason for the establishment of the movement was the lifting presidential re-election limit which was part of a package of reforms backed by President Ilham Aliyev in the Azerbaijani constitutional referendum on 18 March 2009. ReAl Party considers that this constitutional change damaged the republican values of the country and now the higher goal is to re-establish the republic.

Despite multiple attempts to organize the first party congress in various venues since September 2017, the administrative board of ReAl was rejected several times by the city municipality and available hotels in Baku and was not allowed to organize the foundation congress for becoming a political party as part of legal procedures. As a result, ReAl held its first congress online on 7–8 April 2018 and announced to be a political party from that time on.[5]

ReAl received state registration by the Ministry of Justice on September 1, 2020.[6] On September 4, 2020, Ilgar Mammadov met with Adalat Valiyev, Head of the Department for Relations with Political Parties and Legislative Power of the Presidential Administration. Valiyev conveyed President Ilham Aliyev's congratulations to Ilgar Mammadov on the occasion of the party's registration.[7]

References
  1. Guliyev, Farid; Pearce, Katy E. The Challenges of Electoral Competition in an Oil Rich State: Azerbaijani Pre-Election Report Washington Post. 6 October 2013. Accessed 2 July 2014.
  2. The official web page of the Republican Alternative Movement
  3. Ильгар Мамедов освобожден с условным сроком
  4. İlqar Məmmədov 7 il, Tofiq Yaqublu 5 il müddətinə azadlıqdan məhrum edilib, BBC Azərbaycanca, 17 March 2014, retrieved on 28 March 2016
  5. Respublikaçı Alternativ Partiyası təsis qurultayını Facebook-da keçirib, report.az, published 9 April 2018, retrieved 11 April 2018
  6. "Respublikaçı Alternativ (ReAl) Partiyası dövlət qeydiyyatına alınıb". Aze Voice (in Azerbaijani). 1 September 2020. Archived from the original on 1 September 2020. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  7. "REAL Partiyasının sədri PA-nın şöbə müdiri ilə görüşüb". Aze Voice (in Azerbaijani). 5 September 2020. Archived from the original on 5 September 2020. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
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