Azerbaijan - September 2024
Snap elections return ruling party to power
The ruling New Azerbaijan Party (YAP) of President Ilham Aliyev retained its dominant place in Parliament in a snap parliamentary election held on 1 September. YAP retained 68 of 125 seats, with the remainder going to loyal independent MPs or allied parties. The nominally opposition Republican Alternative Party retained its one seat in Parliament. The election was, like previous elections, boycotted by most opposition parties was and neither free nor fair. The election observation mission from the OSCE concluded the election was conducted “against the background of continued repression” and observed “serious irregularities” including 26 cases of ballot box stuffing. Official voting age population turnout was 63.52 per cent, up from 33.58 per cent in 2020, but official data on voter registration and population is of low credibility. The number of women in parliament increased to 26 from 21.
Sources: Eurasianet, Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Republic of Azerbaijan Central Election Commission, IPU Parline
