Azerbaijan's Elections: Truly Democratic Or Free-For-All Farce?

Azerbaijan's political system is authoritarian, with power concentrated in the hands of President Ilham Aliyev and his extended family. Since Azerbaijan gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, its elections have been marred by fraud and other unfair practices, such as holding opposition politicians as political prisoners. International observers have never deemed an election in the country to be free and fair.

Azerbaijan's political system

Azerbaijan is a semi-presidential republic with a president and a prime minister. The President of Azerbaijan is the head of state and the chief of the executive branch, and is directly elected by the people for a seven-year term. The President is also the commander-in-chief and is in charge of representing both local and foreign policies. The Prime Minister is appointed by the President and confirmed by the National Assembly, and heads the National Assembly.

The National Assembly of Azerbaijan is the legislative branch of government, consisting of 125 deputies elected in single-member constituencies. The National Assembly is responsible for creating laws. The Supreme Court is the supreme judicial body in civil, criminal, and other cases related to the execution of general and specialised courts. The President nominates the judges in these courts.

The politics of Azerbaijan take place in an authoritarian system where civil rights are limited, human rights abuses are widespread, and power is concentrated in the hands of President Ilham Aliyev and his extended family. The Aliyev family has dominated the politics of Azerbaijan since 1969. Ilham Aliyev was installed as president in 2003, succeeding his father Heydar Aliyev, who was President from 1993 to 2003. The ruling New Azerbaijan Party, headed by Aliyev, controls all the electoral commissions in Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan is considered a one-party dominant state, and none of the post-1992 elections have been deemed free and fair by international observers. Opposition parties are repressed and frequently blocked from running in elections, and the government remains hostile to dissenting voices, targeting critics and political opponents with dubious charges.

The Aliyev family's control

The Aliyev family has been at the centre of Azerbaijani politics since 1969, when Heydar Aliyev became First Secretary of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan. After Azerbaijan's independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, Heydar Aliyev seized power in a military coup in 1993 and served as President until 2003.

Heydar Aliyev's son, Ilham Aliyev, became president in 2003, and has been in power ever since. Ilham Aliyev was prime minister for two months before the election, which was defined by irregularities and election fraud. Human Rights Watch and the Institute for Democracy in Eastern Europe documented arrests of opposition candidates, police violence, and "widespread fraud and abuse" in the conduct of the election.

Ilham Aliyev was re-elected in 2008, and a 2009 constitutional referendum removed term limits for presidents, allowing him to run indefinitely. He was re-elected in 2013, 2018, and 2024. The 2018 election was boycotted by major opposition parties as fraudulent, and evidence indicates that it was.

The Aliyev family has enriched themselves through their ties to state-run businesses, including significant parts of several major banks, construction and telecommunications firms, and partial ownership of the country's oil and gas industries. Much of their wealth is hidden through an elaborate network of offshore companies. Ilham Aliyev was named 'Corruption's Person of the Year' by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project in 2012, and the family was implicated in the Azerbaijani laundromat scandal in 2017—a complex money-laundering scheme to pay off European politicians to promote a positive image of the regime.

The Aliyev regime has been characterised as authoritarian, with power concentrated in the hands of Ilham Aliyev and his extended family. Elections are not free and fair, and political opponents are repressed. Civil rights are limited, human rights abuses are widespread, and corruption is rampant. The regime has introduced increasingly strict laws that curb political debate and has arrested opposition figures and independent journalists.

Human rights abuses

The Azerbaijani government remains hostile to dissenting voices, targeting critics and political opponents with dubious charges and undermining its stated commitments to reforms. Restrictive laws continue to impede non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from operating independently. Other persistent human rights issues include systemic torture and ill-treatment in custody, restrictions on media freedoms, and domestic violence against women. The government has yet to ratify or sign the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (the Istanbul Convention).

International observers have never deemed an election in Azerbaijan to be free and fair. The country's electoral process is often marred by fraudulent votes and harsh crackdowns on resulting protests. The snap parliamentary elections in February 2020, for example, were expected to bring about change but ultimately resulted in the same sort of crude manipulations that have characterized Azerbaijan's elections for decades. The Election Monitoring and Democracy Studies Center reported violations such as multiple voting, busing of voters, ballot-box stuffing, and voting without registration.

The Aliyev family has dominated the politics of Azerbaijan since 1969. Heydar Aliyev, Ilham's father, governed Soviet Azerbaijan from 1969 to 1982 as First Secretary of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan, and as President of Azerbaijan from 1993 to 2003 after seizing power in a military coup. Ilham Aliyev was installed as president in 2003 and has since secured four consecutive terms through fraudulent elections, with the most recent one being held in April 2018.

Opposition parties

Azerbaijan is a one-party dominant state, with the New Azerbaijan Party, led by President Ilham Aliyev, controlling all the electoral commissions in the country. Aliyev and his father, Heydar Aliyev, have been in power since 1993, and the country has been characterised as an electoral authoritarian regime.

The largest opposition party, the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (AXCP), has boycotted several elections, including the February 2024 presidential election and the September 2024 parliamentary election. The party's leader, Ali Karimli, has argued that participating in fraudulent elections would go against their principles and that their boycott helps delegitimize the elections.

Another major opposition party, Musavat, boycotted the February 2024 presidential election but decided to take part in the September 2024 parliamentary elections. Isa Qambar, the leader of Musavat, acknowledged that their participation would not lead to democratic elections but saw minimal possibilities for engagement and growth.

The Azerbaijan Popular Front Party (APFP) has also boycotted both presidential and parliamentary elections in recent years, expressing doubts about the feasibility of participating under undemocratic conditions.

The decision of these major opposition parties to boycott or participate in elections has a significant impact on the electoral landscape and the broader pursuit of democratic reforms in Azerbaijan.

International observers' role

International observers have never deemed an election in Azerbaijan to be free and fair. The country's political system is authoritarian, with power concentrated in the hands of President Ilham Aliyev and his extended family. Elections in Azerbaijan have frequently been affected by electoral fraud and other unfair election practices.

International observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) have noted that Azerbaijan's elections are devoid of real competition and take place within a restrictive legal framework that curtails fundamental freedoms and media independence. The OSCE has also highlighted the dominance of the ruling party affiliates within election commissions and the restrictions placed on independent domestic observers, which run contrary to the principles of transparency and inclusivity that are crucial for democratic elections.

The OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA) jointly observed Azerbaijan's early parliamentary elections in 2024. They found that the candidate registration process was marred by overly burdensome requirements, inconsistently applied procedures, and cases of candidates withdrawing due to intimidation. New requirements for political parties introduced further restrictions on their registration. The observers also noted that the election campaign was barely visible, and there were reports of public sector employees being forced to attend campaign events, creating an atmosphere of voter intimidation.

The OSCE has also monitored Azerbaijan's early presidential elections, deploying an Election Observation Mission (EOM) to assess the process. The international community's presence and scrutiny of Azerbaijan's elections are essential steps towards ensuring accountability and encouraging the country to uphold democratic standards and respect for fundamental freedoms.

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