Satisfied and Dissatisfied with the Municipal Elections...

On January 29, municipal elections were held in Azerbaijan, with over 16,000 candidates participating across 118 constituencies.

The Central Election Commission (CEC) has already announced the names of the leading candidates on its website. Hours after the election, CEC Chairman Mazahir Panahov stated at a briefing that 413 out of 685 municipalities had already been formed, with 7,791 candidates identified as leaders. According to him, elections proceeded normally in all constituencies, and no complaints were received by his office. However, independent candidates and experts claim that there were violations during the election process.

Melahat Ibrahimqizi, a member of the Azerbaijani Parliament from the ruling New Azerbaijan Party (YAP), told Turan that the municipal elections were conducted in a free and democratic environment: "It was a flawless election that met all democratic requirements and proceeded smoothly without any problems."

According to Ibrahimqizi, people in Azerbaijan have embraced democratic election traditions: "Voters understand what elections and the right to vote and be elected mean, and they freely cast their votes for their candidates."

Most candidates representing political parties belonged to YAP.

Mustafa Hacibeyli, deputy chairman of the opposition Musavat Party, told Radio  Azadliq that the party’s Council left election participation decisions to local branches, some of which nominated candidates: "Around 30 Musavat Party candidates were nominated from various cities and villages. However, based on the information we have so far, none of our candidates were elected as municipal members."

Hacibeyli believes that the public showed little interest in the elections: "This is a result of the non-democratic atmosphere and the prevailing sense of fear in the country. Azerbaijan is under total repression, with hundreds of political prisoners, no freedom of assembly, and no right to protest. In such an environment, people lose faith in elections."

In his view, all election precincts in the country are effectively controlled by a single party: "People know that regardless of who they vote for, the commissions will not count the votes correctly. Under these circumstances, even opposition parties show little interest in elections."

He also expressed doubt that results from polling stations where violations occurred would be annulled.

Natiq Jafarli, chairman of the Republican Alternative (REAL) Party, noted: "We observed very low voter turnout in the municipal elections." He stated that REAL had fielded 14 candidates, and according to preliminary results, five of them won municipal seats: "This is a good initial outcome for REAL."

According to Jafarli, the party’s observers did not report any major violations: "However, this does not mean that no violations occurred—our observers were present at only a limited number of polling stations. Based on their reports, official turnout figures differed from the actual numbers."

The Azerbaijan Popular Front Party (AXCP) was the only political party that did not participate in the elections. The party had previously declared that there were no conditions for free and competitive elections in the country.

Bashir Suleymanli, head of the Institute for Civil Rights, asserted that these municipal elections were no different from previous ones and that no positive changes had taken place: "Traditional violations and fraud were even more blatant this time. The media reports suggest that if such widespread fraud was observed even in Baku, what could have happened in places beyond public scrutiny? It is disappointing that Azerbaijan has once again shown no effort toward improving the electoral process."

Suleymanli also criticized the conduct of some election commission members, describing their behavior as inappropriate toward journalists and observers: "We saw clear evidence of people voting multiple times, being brought en masse to polling stations, and the use of administrative resources. Even in polling stations with CEC cameras, we witnessed ballots being stuffed into boxes."

He further dismissed the CEC’s reported voter turnout as "absurd and far from reality": "People have no trust in the electoral process, and claiming a turnout of 32% in municipal elections is ridiculous."

These elections were initially expected to take place at the end of last year. The last municipal elections in Azerbaijan were held on December 23, 2019. According to the Electoral Code, municipal elections must be held within five years. Some political analysts and legal experts considered the delay in holding the elections unlawful. Members of Parliament defended the postponement, linking it to the COP29 conference held in Baku from November 11 to 22 last year. However, no official explanation was provided to the public.