Opposition parties reject Azerbaijan's snap election call as undemocratic

BAKU (Reuters) - Azerbaijan's two main opposition parties on Monday denounced the calling of a snap election, in which President Ilham Aliyev is expected to extend his 20 years in power, as undemocratic and said they would not field candidates.

The Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA) said it would also urge voters to stay home.

"We are for free, fair, democratic elections and will always demand fair competition. However, we will not participate in the falsified farce called 'elections' in this imitation of 'democracy'," PFPA leader Ali Karimli said.

The Musavat party said it would not put up a candidate but stopped short of calling for a boycott on Feb. 7.

Party leader Arif Hajily said Azerbaijan had not held a free election in three decades, and recent arrests of journalists and political activists showed the next one would be no different.

He told Reuters that Musavat's demands included free speech, freedom of assembly, the release of all political prisoners and reforms to the commission supervising the elections.

Musavat and the PFPA were both established in the 1990s after Azerbaijan won independence following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Neither is represented in parliament as they have long refused to contest elections they regard as undemocratic.

Aliyev, riding high after his forces in September recaptured control of a breakaway territory run by ethnic Armenians since the 1990s, faces six nominal rivals in the election.

Five are from small parties represented in parliament, and the other heads a social research centre.

(Reporting by Nailia Bagirova; Editing by Kevin Liffey)