Polling Begins in Azerbaijan’s Parliamentary Snap Election

Azerbaijan is holding a snap parliamentary election. It’s the first vote since reclaiming Nagorno-Karabakh. Voting is underway with strong international observation.

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Polls have opened in Azerbaijan for a special election. This is the first time people are voting since Azerbaijan took back control of Nagorno-Karabakh last year.

Voting started at 8 a.m. on Sunday and will end at 7 p.m. Over 6.4 million people can vote in this rich country. For the first time in 30 years, people in Nagorno-Karabakh are voting.

 

[Women line up to vote at a polling station in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Sunday, September 1, 2024. [AP Photo]

This election is for the Milli Mejlis, the National Assembly. In the past, elections in Azerbaijan have not always been fair. This time, the New Azerbaijan Party led by President Ilham Aliyev is expected to stay in charge.

President Aliyev, who is 62, has been criticized for being strict. Under his rule, Azerbaijan’s economy has grown thanks to oil and gas. He took over from his father, Heydar Aliyev, who was president before him.

Right now, Aliyev’s party has 69 of the 125 seats in the parliament. Most of the rest are held by small pro-government parties or independents. 

The Musavat Party, a major opposition group, has 34 candidates, but only 25 are approved. Another opposition group, Republican Alternative, has 12 candidates.

The election was supposed to be in November, but Aliyev moved it up because Baku will host the UN climate talks later this year.

The election comes after Azerbaijani forces took over Nagorno-Karabakh, which was controlled by Armenian forces since 1994. Most of the 120,000 Armenian residents left the area.

There are 6,478 polling stations set up for the election. In the areas that were freed, there are 54 permanent polling stations. There are also 10 districts for displaced people, with 574 polling stations for 397,862 voters. Over 42,000 voters will vote in these areas.

For people who can’t go to polling stations, portable ballot boxes are being used. The oldest female voter is 134 years old, and the oldest voter is 109 years old.

Many people are watching the election closely. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is leading the observation. They will share their first report on Monday.

There are 1,000 polling stations with cameras to make sure the voting is done fairly. This is to help keep everything honest.

In total, 51,141 voters are voting for the first time. There are 112,749 local observers, including over 65,000 from political parties, and 598 international observers from 51 countries.

With 990 candidates running, 305 are from 25 political parties, and 371 are party members but not officially nominated.