Who is Ready for the Municipal Elections and Who is Not?

Following the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP29) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change held in Baku (November 11-22), the date for municipal elections in Azerbaijan is expected to be announced. The Chairman of the Central Election Commission (CEC), Mazahir Panahov, recently stated that the municipal elections will be held after January 25. However, municipal elections in Azerbaijan were originally supposed to take place in December of this year. The last municipal elections were held in December 2019, and according to the law, they must be organized no later than five years after the previous ones. Although the Azerbaijani government has not provided an official explanation for this legal discrepancy, several MPs have claimed that the delay is due to COP29.

In any case, there are slightly over two months left before the municipal elections. The election campaign itself lasts about two months. So, which political parties plan to participate, and how prepared are they for this process?

Elman Mammadov, a deputy from the ruling New Azerbaijan Party (YAP), told Turan that YAP has participated in all elections in Azerbaijan since its founding in 1992 and has won: “I am confident that this will be the case in these elections as well.”

Seymur Hezi, Deputy Chairman of the opposition Azerbaijan Popular Front Party (AXCP), stated in an interview with Radio Azadliq that the party has not yet decided whether to participate in the elections: “There have been no discussions about this within the party structures yet. The results of the discussions will be made public.”

He highlighted that they are currently appealing to the government for the allocation of a venue for meetings of the election bodies: “However, the government is not allowing this and is unlawfully restricting our activities. According to the requirements of the ‘Law on Political Parties,’ the government should provide registered political parties with the opportunity to operate. Nevertheless, AXCP does not have a central headquarters and cannot obtain any building for party meetings from the government.”

More than 20 parties are officially registered in Azerbaijan. AXCP has boycotted all recent elections, citing the lack of a democratic competitive environment in the country. Government officials have dismissed their arguments as mere excuses.

Arif Hajili, Chairman of the Musavat Party Council, stated that postponing the elections based on the CEC’s considerations is against the Constitution and laws of Azerbaijan: “This also grossly violates the rights of Azerbaijani citizens.”

Regarding participation in the elections, Hajili noted that the Musavat Party is inclined to participate in all elections: “Despite all the difficulties, we consider abstaining from the elections to be a more harmful stance from the perspective of public interests.”

According to him, everything will depend on the pre-election situation, internal discussions, and the outcomes of these discussions: “The Musavat Council has already discussed the issue and will make a decision soon.”

The REAL Party has already announced its intention to participate in the elections. However, Party Chairman Natig Jafarli emphasized that legal violations and lack of competition in Azerbaijani elections remain serious issues: “Nonetheless, there is no other option. REAL is a party that has accepted the possibility of incremental changes in Azerbaijan through active election participation... We will announce our plans regarding the specific municipalities where we will be more active once the elections are declared. Preparations have been underway for a long time.”

The first municipal elections in Azerbaijan were held in 1999. Initially, there were 2,757 municipalities in the country. In 2009, many municipalities were merged, reducing their number to 1,716. Later, this number was further decreased to 1,606. This year, the process continued, and legislative changes have cut their number by more than half. Citizens, particularly rural residents, have frequently expressed dissatisfaction with the merging of municipalities, arguing that it has made them less accessible. Officials, however, have responded to such criticism by asserting that the consolidation of municipalities is aimed at strengthening their capacity.

Both the opposition and several experts believe that municipalities in Azerbaijan do not have sufficient status as local authorities.