Seven to Eight Claimants for One Position: 'There Is Competition,' 'There Isn’t'...

The deadline for submitting necessary election documents to the District Election Commission (DEC) for the early parliamentary elections scheduled for September 1 has ended on August 2. According to the legislation, applications must be reviewed within 7 days.

The campaigning phase will begin on August 9, meaning the candidate registration will last until August 8.

A total of 1,508 individuals have been nominated for parliamentary candidacy in the upcoming early elections. According to Mazahir Panahov, Chairman of the Central Election Commission (CEC), 1,462 candidates have been approved, and 1,420 have been issued signature sheets. “So far, 1,191 people have returned their signature sheets, and 881 candidates have been registered,” Panahov said on August 4.

The New Azerbaijan Party (YAP) has put forward candidates in all 125 electoral districts. The ruling party informed the Turan news agency about this. However, they added that it will only be clear how many candidates are registered within the next 7 days, so they cannot provide specific numbers yet.

The ReAL Party has put forward 13 candidates, but only 9 have been registered, and 1 candidate’s documents have been returned.

The party told AzadliqRadiosu that the documents of party member Zohra Aliyeva for the 99th Barda electoral district have been returned and are currently under dispute.

The ReAL Election Headquarters emphasized that the documents of 3 candidates are still under review: “We don’t have any complaints yet; everything is going according to plan. We only filed a complaint with the CEC regarding the decision on Zohra Aliyeva, but since it was not upheld, we will appeal to the Baku Appeals Court.”

Musavat Party’s Assembly Chairman Arif Hacili told AzadliqRadiosu that they have participated in the election process with 30 candidates, but only 21 have been registered. He added that they have not received official responses from the DEC regarding the documents of 9 Musavat candidates.

Regarding complaints, Arif Hacili stated that they will clarify their stance after the registration process is completed: “There is still a 7-day period during which we will be able to respond to questions regarding the districts. Our candidates submitted their documents on July 31, and according to the legislation, they should receive responses within 7 days. However, there are some districts where we have information about refusals for our candidates, but decisions have not been made. For instance, in the 101st Samukh-Shamkir Electoral District, our candidate Etibar Akbarli was offered to withdraw, and there was pressure on those signing the signature sheets. Some of those who did this were executive representatives and DEC members. Despite all these irregularities, Etibar Akbarli’s candidacy was registered.”

So far, it has not been possible to get a response from official bodies regarding Arif Hacili’s statements.

The acceptance of documents for parliamentary candidates began on July 13.

Another opposition force, the Azerbaijan Popular Front Party (APFP), has announced a boycott of the elections, claiming that there are no conditions for free and fair elections in the country. However, officials emphasize that all opportunities for free and fair elections have been created.

Bashir Suleymanli, head of the Institute for Citizen Rights, stated in an interview with AzadliqRadiosu that he does not expect a competitive election: “The issue is that the process has appeared very subdued since the start of the election. This applies to both the nomination of candidates and the registration phase. Therefore, pre-election campaigning will also be formal. There might be some competition in a few districts, for example, there might be some difference in the district where ReAL official Natiq Jafarli is competing with MP Zahid Oruc. But overall, compared to previous elections, it will be a less competitive election. This is because the APFP is boycotting, and the leadership of the Musavat Party is not participating in the elections.”

Novella Jafaroglu, head of the “My Voice Coalition,” has a different perspective. She believes the elections will be competitive as there are enough alternatives: “Our coalition representatives are currently monitoring in Shaki and Sabirabad, and it appears that there will be competition in the elections. Competition is also expected in the districts in Baku.”