National Independence Party of Azerbaijan (NIPA) was founded on 3-4 July, 1992 and was officially registered in the Justice Ministry on 17 July in the same year. Thus, multi-party system was set up in the history of contemporary Azerbaijan after 70 years with that.
At the same time NIPA is the first political organization which struggled for political power. The party has local branches in 73 regions of the country and has more than 40 000 members. NIPA is one of leading parties playing an important role in public and social life of Azerbaijan and going through the processes.
NIPA Leader, Mr. Etibar Mammadov was one of leading faces of Azerbaijani national freedom movement. He was arrested while holding a press conference in Moscow City, capital of former USSR on 26 January, 1992, on 20 January, 1990 massacres committed by the Soviet Empire in Baku and detained in Lefortovo prison.
National Independence Party of Azerbaijan took part in all elections held in the country and gained numerous successes since the Party considers elections one of basic principles of democracy. NIPA Leader, Mr. Etibar Mammadov took his candidacy back in 1992 presidential elections. NIPA cleared 8% barrier in 1995 parliamentary elections despite all obstacles of the government and was represented in the Supreme Legislative Body. NIPA candidate Mr. Etibar Mammadov confirmed his great electorate and influence once again by gaining over 1 million votes of country citizens being alternative to former president Haydar Aliyev on 12 November 1998.
In 1999 NIPA boycotted the Municipal Elections since there wasn’t democratic election atmosphere and the lack of equal competetiveness opportunities.
Although NIPA gained success in 2000 parliamentary elections, the party couldn’t get a mandate to the parliament because the government had totally falsified the elections. E. Mammadov participated at the elections as the candidate of “Qelebe” (victory) bloc established within NIPA during 15 October 2003 Presidential elections, despite that all the election results were falsified by the government, according to the results out of the official protocols Mr Mammadov was the third at those elections.
NIPA which joined 2004 municipal elections occupied the second place after New Azerbaijan Party, the most influential party in the country for number of all municipal members.
In 2005 parliamentary elections NIPA was one of the three parties creating the “Yeni Siyaset” (new policy) election bloc and nominated 54 candidates from 125 constituencies of the country. Nevertheless, the party members haven’t received a mandate to the parliament, the candidacy of two MPs were nominated by NIPA.
NIPA has wide-scale international relations. Thus, NIPA has been closely collaborating with the International Democrat Union since 1995, an organization which unites 82 center right parties from 63 countries in the world, the party entered the organization as an associative member in 1996. NIPA became a full member of IDU in May, 1999. NIPA leader Mr Etibar Mammadov was elected a vice-chairman of this authoritative organization in 2003. NIPA also has been collaborating with European People’s Party, a big fraction at the European Parliament for many years.
The supreme goal of the party is to achieve the unity and integrity of citizens, families, society and state uniting the principles of nationality and contemporaneity in thoughts, conservativeness in customs, traditions and morality, liberality in economy, justice in social life.
NIPA struggles consecutively for building democracy and legal society and protection of human freedoms in the country, in this regard hundreds of members, supporters of NIPA have been subjected to punishment.
The author of the NIPA emblem is Mr Etibar Mammadov, the founder of the party, nowadays is the NIPA leader. The party’s emblem contains a circular green garland, followed by a red circle, inside that a white half-moon against the blue background, an octagonal star and an arrow that symbolizes the party’s basic principles. These principles are – patriotism (Azerbaijanism), liberty, national statehood, nationality, pioneering- contemporaneity and independency. The blue, red and green colors in the emblem symbolize the flag of Azerbaijan. The half-moon and star also refer to the flag of Azerbaijan.
The flag of the party is made from white silk fabric which has party’s emblem on it.
NIPA sometime had even better headquarters than the ruling party has now. Nowadays NIPA’s central headquarters is located at: Yasamal Distirct, 177 Shafayat Mehdiyev St, 15th floor.
AMİP eyni zamanda siyasi hakimiyyət uğrunda mübarizə apardığını elan edən ilk siyasi təşkilatdır. Ölkənin 73 rayonunda yerli təşkilatları olan AMİP-in minlərlə üzvü var.
Partiya Azərbaycanın ictimai-siyasi həyatında mühüm rol oynayan və proseslərə nüfuz edən aparıcı partiyalardan biridir.