"This time again the parliamentary elections will be held according to the majority electoral system"

"According to the legislation, parliamentary elections should be held in November this year, but their dates may be postponed to an earlier date,"  Chairman of the Central Election Commission Mazahir Panahov  said at a meeting of the Central Election Commission on May 2. Panahov attributed this to the fact that the elections coincide with COP29 (the UN Climate Change Conference), which will be held in November in Azerbaijan: "Therefore, a decision may be made to postpone the elections."

In recent years, most elections in Azerbaijan have been held on an extraordinary basis. The postponement of the parliamentary elections by about six months in 2020 was explained by the "acceleration of reforms." The presidential elections scheduled for February 7 of this year, which were to be held next year, were also caused by the restoration of sovereignty throughout the country. Officials said they consider it important that the country's first elections after this historic process be presidential.

What could be the true reasons and goals for postponing the parliamentary elections?

The chairman of the Public Association "Law and Development", lawyer Hafiz Hasanov, answers questions from ASTNA on this topic.

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Question: Chairman of the Central Election Commission Mazahir Panahov stated that the election dates may be postponed, since the parliamentary elections scheduled for November this year coincide with the COP29 in Azerbaijan in the same month. What is the real reason for postponing the parliamentary elections? Is there really a reason for COP 29?

Answer: The connection of early parliamentary elections with a large-scale event in the country has no legal basis. That is, the legislation does not establish such grounds for early elections. In this case, the early holding of elections to the Milli Majlis may be conducted in the order of dissolution of the Milli Majlis by the President. According to Article 981 of the Constitution, if the Milli Majlis, for unavoidable reasons, does not fulfill its duties specified in  the Articles 94 and 95, parts II, III, IV and V of Article 96, Article 97 of this Constitution, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan shall dissolve the Milli Majlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan. These Articles mainly cover issues related to the activities of the Milli Majlis, and I believe that none of these reasons have been found at the moment. However, given that the current Milli Majlis is formed on the basis of early elections after its dissolution, it is possible that the same practice will be repeated this time. In my opinion, the postponement of the elections to the Milli Majlis to an earlier date may be more related to COP29. Because elections were held in the same way in the country in all political conditions, and I do not yet see any circumstances that could affect the fact that elections will not be held in November in the same way.

Question: But the parliamentary elections can also be postponed.  That is, there have been talks about holding a referendum since last year. And in the media, you can find a lot of statements about the need to hold a referendum. In this case, the referendum could be moved forward, and one provision (the provision on holding parliamentary elections in November), in accordance with the Constitution, could be postponed to another month.  But we see that now there are calls to move forward the parliamentary elections. Why go ahead? What is the rush? For what purpose?

Answer: According to part I of Article 84 of the Constitution, the term of office of each convocation of the Milli Majlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan is 5 years. It is indicated here that if conducting military operations in conditions of war does not allow holding elections to the Milli Majlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan, then the term of office of the convocation of the Milli Majlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan is extended until the end of military operations. In addition, according to Article 7-1 of the Electoral Code, elections or referendums cannot be held if a state of war or emergency has been declared in more than 25 percent of the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan, during a state of war or emergency, as well as within 3 months after the lifting of a state of war or emergency. That is, only in these cases is it possible to recall the elections. However, there are currently none of these cases. As for the issue of the referendum, I think that at the moment it is too late to hold a referendum.

Question: If there is no referendum, it means that the proportional electoral system will not be applied in these elections either.

Answer: The Constitution provides for holding elections to the Milli Majlis according to the majority electoral system, naturally, this can be changed by holding a referendum on amendments to the Constitution. And if there was no referendum on this issue, then this time the parliamentary elections will be held according to the majority system.

Question: In general, in recent years we have seen that most elections in Azerbaijan are held out of turn. The presidential elections of 2018 and 2024, and the parliamentary elections of 2020. And if the parliamentary elections are postponed this time, then they will be extraordinary. What is the interest in holding early elections? What is the purpose?

Answer: From the point of view of the frequency of elections and the stability of the elected bodies, there is, of course, nothing good in holding early elections. There must be serious legal and political grounds for holding early elections. If there are no such grounds, then this issue is determined in accordance with the political will.

Question: Many experts say that the requirements for elections do not relate to the timing of their holding. That is, it is impossible to hold democratic elections with the current electoral legislation. Therefore, both the legislation and the human rights situation in the run-up to and during the elections must change. How fair are these demands?

Answer: I also share these opinions. Both the legal framework and the political environment should be favorable for holding free and fair elections, and the organization of electoral bodies should be formed in accordance with the general confidence of the competing parties in the elections.

Question: And finally, what can change with this legislation, with this regulation, without any changes, without holding a referendum, without using both a proportional and majority electoral system?

Answer: The need for changes in electoral legislation has been repeatedly stated by local and international observation missions. However, so far there have been no positive changes in the electoral legislation. In fact, it is not so important according to which electoral system the elections are held. The main thing is that they take place in a favorable political environment based on a good legal framework.