Parliamentary elections were held in
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...
on 1 September 2024.
They were originally scheduled to take place in November 2024, but were brought forward after parliament was dissolved in June 2024.
The
New Azerbaijan Party
The New Azerbaijan Party (, YAP) is the ruling political party in Azerbaijan, founded on 21 November 1992 under the leadership of Heydar Aliyev. After his election as President of Azerbaijan on 3 October 1993, and the party's victory at 1995 parl ...
of President
Ilham Aliyev
Ilham Heydar Oghlu Aliyev (born 24 December 1961) is an Azerbaijani politician who has been the fourth president of Azerbaijan since 2003. He is also the leader of the New Azerbaijan Party since 2005.
The son and second child of former Aze ...
won a majority of 68 seats.
Campaigning was minimal, the leading opposition
Azerbaijani Popular Front Party did not take part, and the election was criticized for being undemocratic.
Background
The elections were originally scheduled to take place in November 2024. However, in late June 2024 MPs asked President
Ilham Aliyev
Ilham Heydar Oghlu Aliyev (born 24 December 1961) is an Azerbaijani politician who has been the fourth president of Azerbaijan since 2003. He is also the leader of the New Azerbaijan Party since 2005.
The son and second child of former Aze ...
to dissolve the
National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...
and call elections in September to avoid holding them during the
2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference
The 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference or Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC, more commonly known as COP29, was the 29th United Nations Climate Change conference. It was held at Baku Olympic Stadium in Baku, Azerbaijan, from 11 ...
to be hosted in
Baku
Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...
from 11 to 22 November. Despite criticism from opposition parties, the measure was approved by the
Constitutional Court
A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ru ...
on 27 June, which allowed Aliyev to dissolve parliament on 28 June and set 1 September as the date for the elections.
Previous elections since independence have not been regarded as fully free or fair, and the vote for the Milli Mejlis was not expected to bring significant changes to the body.
Coming into the election, the ruling
New Azerbaijan party held 69 seats.
These were the first elections since Azerbaijan regained the Armenian separatist state of
Nagorno-Karabakh
Nagorno-Karabakh (, ; ) is a region in Azerbaijan, covering the southeastern stretch of the Lesser Caucasus mountain range. Part of the greater region of Karabakh, it spans the area between Lower Karabakh and Syunik Province, Syunik. Its ter ...
, after launching
an offensive in September 2023.
The leading opposition
Azerbaijan Popular Front Party
The Azerbaijani Popular Front Party (APFP; , ) is a political party in Azerbaijan, founded in 1989 by Abulfaz Elchibey. Since Elchibey was ousted from power in the 1993 military coup, the party has been one of the main opposition parties to the ...
did not take part in the election, for the seventh straight time.
Electoral system
The 125 members of the National Assembly are elected in single-member constituencies using the
first-past-the-post
First-past-the-post (FPTP)—also called choose-one, first-preference plurality (FPP), or simply plurality—is a single-winner voting rule. Voters mark one candidate as their favorite, or First-preference votes, first-preference, and the cand ...
system. More than 6.4 million people registered to vote in the election. Voting began at 08:00 and closed at 19:00.
The election also marked the first time that voting was held in
Nagorno-Karabakh
Nagorno-Karabakh (, ; ) is a region in Azerbaijan, covering the southeastern stretch of the Lesser Caucasus mountain range. Part of the greater region of Karabakh, it spans the area between Lower Karabakh and Syunik Province, Syunik. Its ter ...
since 1994, following its recovery by Azerbaijani forces in 2023.
Candidates
The opposition
Musavat
The Müsavat Party (, from ''musāwāt'', ) is the oldest existing political party in Azerbaijan. Its history can be divided into three periods: Early Musavat, Musavat-in-exile and New Musavat.
The party was prohibited from contesting the 1995 ...
party initially fielded 34 candidates for the election, of which only 25 were registered to appear in the balloting. The
Republican Alternative Party fielded 12 candidates.
Conduct
Fifty organisations sent observers to monitor the election, including the
OSCE
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is a regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization comprising member states in Europe, North America, and Asia. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, the pr ...
.
Results
Results showed the ruling
New Azerbaijan Party
The New Azerbaijan Party (, YAP) is the ruling political party in Azerbaijan, founded on 21 November 1992 under the leadership of Heydar Aliyev. After his election as President of Azerbaijan on 3 October 1993, and the party's victory at 1995 parl ...
of President Aliyev securing a narrow majority of 68 of 125 seats in the National Assembly. Forty-four seats were won by independents, while the remaining seats were won by smaller parties. Official turnout was at 37.3%.
By constituency
Aftermath
Musavat refused to recognize the legitimacy of the new parliament and called for another vote, describing the election as "accompanied by widespread violations, including multiple voting by the same individuals and groups, ballot stuffing, and pressure on observers."
The
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is a regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization comprising member states in Europe, North America, and Asia. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, the p ...
denounced the election as having "fallen well short of democratic standards." Its election monitors also reported that the election campaign had been "barely visible" and that the election was "a contest devoid of competition."
On 23 September Sahiba Gafarova was re-elected as speaker of the National Assembly.
References
{{Azerbaijani elections
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...
Parliamentary
In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
Parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan