Parliamentary Election in Azerbaijan

30 August 2024

The IPA CIS international observers held meetings in Baku with the leadership and representatives of the election headquarters of the political parties that nominated candidates for the snap parliamentary election to the Milli Majlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Coordinator of the IPA CIS observer group, First Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Andrey Yatskin said that 33 international observers from the Assembly are working in Azerbaijan ahead of the elections. In their work they are guided by the principles enshrined in the Convention on the Standards of Democratic Elections, Electoral Rights and Freedoms in the Member Nations of the Commonwealth of Independent States. The monitoring participants base their conclusions only on factual and verifiable material. This norm is contained in the Declaration of the Interparliamentary Assembly of Member Nations of the Commonwealth of Independent States on Principles of International Observation of Elections and Referendums in the CIS Member Nations.

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Coordinator of the IPA CIS observer group, First Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Andrey Yatskin and Secretary General of the IPA CIS Council Dmitriy Kobitskiy met with Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Samir Sharifov in Baku.

The meeting discussed the campaign to invite international observers to the election and the importance of impartial and objective monitoring of electoral processes without interfering in the internal affairs of the Republic.

31 August 2024

The IPA CIS international observers discussed the preparations for the snap parliamentary election in Azerbaijan with Deputy Chair of the New Azerbaijan Party – Head of the Central Administration Tahir Budagov.

The agenda of the meeting included the ruling party’s campaign policy within the framework of the current campaign, interaction with election administration bodies, work on organizing polling stations and building a dialogue with voters in the regions.

Also on this day the IPA CIS international observers met with Chair of the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Azerbaijan Mazahir Panahov.

Coordinator of the IPA CIS observer group, First Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Andrey Yatskin thanked the Head of the CEC for accrediting the IPA CIS observers.

Mazahir Panahov said that more than 600 international and more than 112.7 thousand national observers (about 20 per polling station) were accredited for the parliamentary elections – there were no refusals in registration.

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The IPA CIS international observers visited the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Azerbaijan and talked to its Chair Farhad Abdullayev.

The Chair of the Constitutional Court told the observers in detail about the procedure of recognising as constitutional the decision of the Milli Majlis on the appointment of the snap parliamentary election.

1 September 2024

Polling stations opened in Azerbaijan for voting in the parliamentary election. The electoral process was monitored by a group of the IPA CIS international observers, including representatives of parliaments of six Commonwealth countries.

Thus, the second snap parliamentary election in the history of Azerbaijan were held on 1 September.

As part of the election monitoring, the IPA CIS observers visited 145 polling stations.

2 September 2024

Baku hosted the final press conference of the CIS observer mission on the results of monitoring the snap election to the Milli Majlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

The CIS observer mission concluded that the electoral legislation of Azerbaijan made it possible to organise and hold parliamentary election on the basis of universal, equal, direct suffrage with secrecy of the vote. At the same time, the electoral authorities ensured conditions for the realisation of the right of citizens to freely express their will in accordance with the principles of democratic elections.

The analysis of compliance with the standards of democratic elections has shown that the Constitution and the Electoral Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan, as well as the normative legal acts adopted on their basis, enshrine provisions and principles that ensure conditions for voters to freely express their will during voting. In the Mission’s opinion, the electoral legislation complies with generally accepted principles and norms of international law and makes it possible to ensure open, free and democratic election.

133 observers of the CIS Mission worked in 16 districts of the Republic of Azerbaijan, where they visited 973 polling stations. According to the Mission members, the voting took place in a calm, organised and transparent manner.

Coordinator of the IPA CIS observer group, First Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Andrey Yatskin noted that the election to the Milli Majlis of Azerbaijan were held for the first time on the entire territory of the Republic, while respecting the rights and freedoms of all participants in the electoral process, and complied with universally recognised democratic principles, norms of organisation and conduct of free and fair elections contained in the Constitution and electoral legislation of the country.

The Coordinator added that the election campaign was held in conditions of active competition, and the observers were provided with all conditions for monitoring.

The monitoring group from the Assembly included parliamentarians from Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, as well as experts from the International Institute for Monitoring the Democracy Development, Parliamentarianism and Suffrage Protection of Citizens of IPA CIS Member Nations (IPA CIS IIMDD).