Who will take part in the extraordinary presidential election in Azerbaijan?
Extraordinary presidential election in Azerbaijan
Who will participate and who will not in the snap presidential election scheduled for February 7 next year in Azerbaijan?
JAMNews presents a brief summary of the pre-election situation in Azerbaijan, compiled by the BBC Azerbaijan Editorial Board.
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It is already known that four political parties have decided to participate in the early presidential election, while two parties have decided to boycott.
The official decision of the ReAl party is still unknown.
The Azerbaijani Popular Front party, which held its congress on December 16, said it would not participate in the early presidential election.
On December 15, the Musavat Party also decided to boycott.
By decision of the ruling Yeni Azerbaijan Party, the party’s chairman, incumbent President Ilham Aliyev, will be its candidate.
In addition, the chairman of the pro-government Great Creation Party, MP Fazil Mustafa, and the head of the Social Research Center, MP Zahid Oruj, have announced that they will be candidates.
National Front Party chairman, MP Razi Nurullayev and Great Azerbaijan Party chairman Elshad Musayev may also be candidates, local media reported.
The two main opposition parties of Azerbaijan have decided to boycott.
This was announced by Ali Kerimli, chairman of the Popular Front of Azerbaijan party, at the party congress on December 16.
Ali Kerimli earlier told the BBC that “the Azerbaijani government is going to the elections in the conditions of increasing repression in society.”
Arif Hajili, head of the Musavat Party, said their decisions were announced at a meeting of the party’s governing council held on December 15.
“The government’s appeals to create a pre-election democratic environment, release all political prisoners, ensure freedom of assembly, freedom of speech and expression, and representation of candidate parties in election commissions went unanswered,” Arif Hajili wrote on Facebook.
Both Ali Kerimli and Arif Hajili pointed to recent arrests in Azerbaijan and said that “repression” continues in the country after the announcement of an early election.
Those who have decided to boycott believe that the authorities have decided to hold the election without any public discussion, thus minimizing the opportunity for those who want change in the country to prepare.
Ilgar Mammadov, chairman of the opposition ReAl party, wrote on his Facebook account that his “party will not present a technical candidate.”
“Our candidate will either be political, i.e. me as the head of the party, or there will be no candidate at all,” Ilgar Mammadov wrote.
Meanwhile, MP Fazil Mustafa, who heads the pro-government Great Creation party, has been nominated for the upcoming election. APA reports with reference to the MP, the party released information about it on December 16.
Azerbaijan’s Central Election Commission has reported that 26 polling stations will be established in nine electoral districts of Karabakh and liberated territories, including Khankendi, Terter, Sugovushan, Askeran and Khojaly.
According to the CEC, registration of presidential candidates started on December 19, and the last date of registration will be January 8.
No official statement on the reasons for the snap election has been made yet.
Ilham Aliyev was elected president of Azerbaijan in 2003, 2008, 2013 and 2018. This is his fifth presidential candidacy.
The last presidential election in Azerbaijan was held in 2018 and it was announced that Ilham Aliyev won 86 percent of the vote. The opposition boycotted these elections and opposition leaders did not participate in the election.
The last presidential election was held six months earlier than scheduled.
As a result of a referendum held in 2016, the constitution was amended and the presidential term was extended from 5 to 7 years.
According to the constitution, President Ilham Aliyev’s presidential term ends in 2025.
The details of Ilham Aliyev’s February election platform are not yet known.
