A look at the presidential elections of Azerbaijan; How did Ilham Aliyev become a multi-term president?

According to the international group Tasnim News Agency, the early presidential elections of Azerbaijan in It will be held on February 7, 2024 (Bahan 18). This election has been called victory election by the representatives of power and journalists in mass media.

62-year-old Ilham Aliyev, who is on the verge of winning his fifth presidential term, for the first time in He participated in the presidential elections on October 15, 2003 and was elected as the president of Azerbaijan for the first time by winning more than 76% of the votes. In this period, the participation rate in the elections was 63%.

In the presidential elections of October 15, 2008, he also managed to get more than 85% of the votes and became the president of Azerbaijan for the second time. Selected. In this period, the participation rate in the elections was 76%.

Alif on February 18, 2009, by holding a referendum in the Republic of Azerbaijan, he brought about changes in the constitution of this country and was able to limit two terms. Abolish the presidency. In this way, Ilham Aliyev managed to participate in the seventh presidential election of Azerbaijan on October 9, 2013 and became the president of Azerbaijan for the third time by winning more than 84% of the votes. In this period, the participation rate in the elections was 72%.

Elham Aliyev changed the constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan for the third time, on September 26, 2016, by holding a referendum. Using this law, in addition to increasing the length of the presidential term from 5 years to 7 years, Ilham Aliyev appointed his wife, Mehrban Aliva, who was a member of parliament and deputy of the “New Azerbaijan” party, to the position of his first deputy. /p>

Despite the end of the presidential term in October 2018 after the referendum, Ilham Aliyev decided to hold early elections. Thus, extraordinary elections were held on April 11, 2018, and President Elham Aliyev won 3,394,898 votes (86.02 percent) and finished the election in first place and was elected as the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan for the fourth time and for 7 years. became. During this period, the participation rate in the elections was 75%.

According to the election law and the constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the next presidential election was supposed to be held 7 years after the last election, i.e. in 2025. but with the decree dated December 7, 2023, which was signed by the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, the day of holding the extraordinary presidential elections of Azerbaijan was set on February 7, 2024, and that day was declared a non-working day.

In this way, 20 thousand voters can vote in the polling stations that are supposed to be in the liberated areas. To settle down from the occupation, to vote. On December 19, 2023, with the decision taken at the meeting of the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Azerbaijan, 26 polling stations were established in the areas that were freed from occupation.

Reactions

“Ali Karimli” Chairman of People’s Front Party of Azerbaijan and “Arif Hajili” Chairman of Equality Party, from the announcement They criticized the timing of the elections.

Ali Karimli, the leader of the People’s Front Party of Azerbaijan, says that the early elections were planned by President Ilham Aliyev as an “operation against the people”. So, this idea is not yesterday. It seems that this decision was made at least a few months ago. It is now clear why the crackdown has been so severe in recent months.

Almost every day people are arrested and information about torture is released. The number of political prisoners is increasing. Before the elections, the possibility of minimal competition is lost. It seems that the Azerbaijani authorities are wary of minimal competition and hold the elections as a sudden military operation. Its confidence knows.

Equality Party issued a statement regarding holding early presidential elections on December 13, 2023. It is emphasized in this statement: The Equality Party has decided not to participate in the early presidential elections that will be held on February 7, 2024. The government of Azerbaijan minimizes the possibility of the presence of the political opposition and the possibility of a change in the country’s political management through elections, and the fact that the election campaigns are placed during many holidays, the short days and cold weather lead to a decrease in people’s activity in the election process, and for this reason, the government It wants to turn the elections into an official procedure that is in line with its interests. Also, in the party’s statement, the authorities of Azerbaijan are asked to remove all restrictions to prevent the holding of elections in competitive conditions.

Arif Hajili, the head of this party, told reporters that the reason for this is the lack of a democratic atmosphere before the elections in Azerbaijan, the absence of the necessary legal framework that guarantees free elections, and The lack of advertising opportunities is equal.

He believes that the election commissions are under the supervision of the government. This issue questions the objectivity of the elections. In addition, we, as the Equality Party, requested that when the elections are announced, there should be a certain calm, political prisoners should be released, freedom of assembly, freedom of speech and thought should be ensured. However, the actions of the Azerbaijani authorities showed that they do not intend to make a positive change.

Mehman Aliyev, head of Turan news agency, says: Ilham Aliyev decided to hold extraordinary presidential elections to prepare for the transition. It has adopted a parliamentary republic, that is, by speeding up the elections, it guarantees its permanence in power for the next 7 years. The goal is to carry out other internal political reforms in the next 7 years.

Mahman Aliyev believes that a referendum will be held in Azerbaijan, and with this the management system of this country will be rebuilt. I think that the parliamentary elections will be held earlier in a proportional manner, as a result, in my opinion, a semi-parliamentary and semi-republican system will be established in the initial stage.

He stated: I think that If the presidential election is postponed after these reforms, it may pose a risk to the government, so the presidential election will be held first so that this issue is not considered in the next 7 years.

Also. Therefore, this analyst considers the recent tension with Europe and America as well as increasing pressure on society, such as the targeting of investigative journalists, activists and critical media organizations, to be the reason.

He emphasizes: In Azerbaijan, such a situation usually occurs on the eve of important events, this is a preventive pressure on the international community as well as the domestic community so that they cannot seriously interfere in some processes, in other words, the authorities do not want the West and the society to exert any pressure on the presidential elections. Bring the situation.

On January 10, 2024, the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev announced the reasons for holding early presidential elections in an interview with local TV channels. Therefore, first of all, Aliyev mentioned the events of September (the complete liberation of Karabakh), secondly, the importance of the first elections that were held in the whole republic, including Karabakh, during the independence period, and thirdly, he mentioned the completion of the 20th year of his presidency and the new elections after that.

Monitoring the elections

Seven International and regional organizations will monitor early presidential elections in Azerbaijan.

They are as follows:

Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe

Union of Commonwealth of Independent States

Organization of Islamic Cooperation

Organization Shanghai Cooperation Organization

Organization for Democracy and Economic Development

Youth Organization of the Non-Aligned Movement

Organization of Turkic States

Candidates

17 candidates for have been nominated for the presidency of the Republic of Azerbaijan, but only 7 of them collected 40,000 signatures and submitted them to the Central Election Commission. In this way, in the presidential elections of Azerbaijan, 7 candidates will fight for the position of president, which are:

1. Ilham Aliyev, candidate of New Azerbaijan Party

2. Zahid Aruj, independent candidate

3. Razi Noorullahif, candidate of the National Front Party

4. Fazel Mustafa, the candidate of the Great Formation Party

5. Elshad Musayev, candidate of the Great Azerbaijan Party

6. Gudrat Hasanqoliyev, candidate of the United People’s Front of Azerbaijan

7. Fouad Aliyev, independent candidate

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