Azerbaijani parliamentary election, 2010

Last updated
Azerbaijan
Coat of arms of Azerbaijan.svg
This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
Azerbaijan
See also

Parliamentary elections were held in Azerbaijan on 7 November 2010. [1] [2]

Azerbaijan republic in Western Asia and Eastern Europe

Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia at the crossroads of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west and Iran to the south. The exclave of Nakhchivan is bounded by Armenia to the north and east, Iran to the south and west, and has an 11 km long border with Turkey in the northwest.

Contents

Candidates

The registration of candidates ended on 15 October. [3] Although 2,500 candidates filed application to run in the election, only 690 were given the go ahead by the electoral commission. [4]

Conduct

The elections were observed by monitors from the European Parliament, Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the Council of Europe. OSCE stated that the election campaign had been marred by restrictions on media freedom and freedom of assembly. Many opposition candidates were unable to register themselves, thus creating an "uneven playing field", according to the OSCE. [5] The pre-election atmosphere was tense with the media complaining of pressure and intransparent financial transactions of state officials. [6] [7] [8]

European Parliament directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union

The European Parliament (EP) is the only parliamentary institution of the European Union (EU) that is directly elected by EU citizens aged 18 or older. Together with the Council of the European Union, which should not be confused with the European Council and the Council of Europe, it exercises the legislative function of the EU. The Parliament is composed of 751 members (MEPs), that will become 705 starting from the 2019–2024 legislature, who represent the second-largest democratic electorate in the world and the largest trans-national democratic electorate in the world.

Council of Europe International organization for defending human rights

The Council of Europe is an international organisation whose stated aim is to uphold human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it has 47 member states, covers approximately 820 million people and operates with an annual budget of approximately half a billion euros.

Freedom of assembly Right to form social or political groups and hold meetings

Freedom of peaceful assembly, sometimes used interchangeably with the freedom of association, is the individual right or ability of people to come together and collectively express, promote, pursue, and defend their collective or shared ideas. The right to freedom of association is recognized as a human right, a political right and a civil liberty.

The observation mission of the PACE reported that "the whole election process showed progress in reaching Assembly and OSCE standards and commitments" but that "significant progress would still be necessary to reach an overall electoral and democratic consensus". [9]

Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe parliamentary assembly

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is the parliamentary arm of the Council of Europe, a 47-nation international organisation dedicated to upholding human rights, democracy and the rule of law. The Council of Europe is an older and wider circle of nations than the 28-member European Union – it includes, for example, Russia and Turkey among its member states – and oversees the European Court of Human Rights.

Many national and foreign experts found no major improvement in the conduct of these elections. No elections after 1992 was fully in accordance with national and international democratic standards. So far Azerbaijan has been convicted twice of election fraud during the 2005 parliamentary elections by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. In April it was regarding Nemat Aliyev's case, [10] and in September regarding Flora Karimova's. [11]

Prior to the elections, the government amended visa regulations, making it more difficult for election observers and journalists to enter the country. [12]

Results

President Ilham Aliyev's ruling Yeni Azerbaijan Party got a majority of 71 out of 125 seats. Nominally independent candidates, who were aligned with the government, received 38 seats, and 10 small opposition or quasi-opposition parties got the remaining 13 seats. Civic Solidarity retained its 3 seats, and Ana Vaten kept the 2 seats they had in the previous legislature; the Democratic Reforms party, Great Creation, the Movement for National Rebirth, Umid, Civic Unity, Civic Welfare, Adalet (Justice), and the Popular Front of United Azerbaijan, most of which were represented in the previous parliament, won one seat a piece. [13]

For the first time in Azerbaijani history, not a single candidate from the main opposition Azerbaijan Popular Front (AXCP) or Musavat parties was elected. [13] The opposition Musavat decried the election as "illegitimate...[the] events had nothing to do with elections, it was the most shameful kind of election." Ruling president, Aliyev, however, said the election was fair. [5]

The Central Election Commission said turnout was 50.1%, out of a total 4.9 million people eligible to vote. Opposition leaders suggested the low turnout was due to candidate disqualifications by the CEC, and consequent discouragements to vote after their choice of candidate was excluded. [4]

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
New Azerbaijan Party 1,110,88546.4871+10
Musavat 47,9422.010–5
Civic Solidarity Party 46,5121.9530
Motherland Party 33,2751.3920
Classic Popular Front Party31,3171.310–
Azerbaijani Popular Front Party 28,7191.20–1
Whole Azerbaijan Popular Front Party 24,4991.0310
Azerbaijan National Independence Party 23,1410.970–
Party of Hope 21,6050.910
Azerbaijan Social Prosperity Party 18,0730.7610
Great Order Party 17,3890.7310
Justice Party 12,7610.5310
Citizen and Development Party11,1700.470–
Democratic Azerbaijan World Party11,1100.460–
Civic Unity Party 10,1690.4310
Azerbaijan Democratic Party 7,6620.3200
Azerbaijan Communist Party 6,9420.290–
Intellectuals Party5,6470.240–
Party for Democratic Reforms 5,5550.2310
Social Democratic Party of Azerbaijan 4,4020.180–
Azerbaijan People's Party3,6700.150–
Azerbaijan Progress Party3,6420.150–
Modern Equality Party 3,3490.140–
Azerbaijan Liberal Party 2,2240.090–
Unity Party 2,1860.090–
Azerbaijan National Democrat Party 1,2090.050–
Freedom Party1,0880.050–
Azerbaijan Free Republicans Party8200.030–
Great Azerbaijan Party7500.030–
Azerbaijan Evolution Party3060.010–
Azerbaijan National Statehood Party1040.000–
National Salvation Party940.000–
Azerbaijan Democratic Enlightenment Party 550.000–
Affiliation not indicated40,6881.730
Independents850,87035.639–4
Total2,389,8301001250
Registered voters/turnout4,922,600––
Source: Election Passport

Reactions

Western observers [5] and the opposition alleged irregularities. [14] The elections were observed by monitors from the European Parliament, Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the Council of Europe. The OSCE reported that on election day there were cases of ballot-stuffing. [5]

Related Research Articles

Politics of Kyrgyzstan

The Politics of Kyrgyzstan, officially known as the Kyrgyz Republic takes place in the framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the President is head of state and the Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan is head of government. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament. The Economist Intelligence Unit has rated Kyrgyzstan as "hybrid regime" in 2016.

Politics of Azerbaijan

The Politics of Azerbaijan takes place in a framework of a semi-presidential republic, with the President of Azerbaijan as the head of state, and the Prime Minister of Azerbaijan as head of government. Executive power is exercised by the president and the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament. The Judiciary is nominally independent of the executive and the legislature. The state system of Azerbaijan defines the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan. According to the constitution, Azerbaijan is a democratic, secular, unitary republic.

New Azerbaijan Party political party

The New Azerbaijan Party is the ruling political party in Azerbaijan. It was formed on 18 December 1992 by the former President of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev, who led it until his death in 2003. It is now led by his son, Ilham Aliyev, who succeeded his father as the party leader and as President of Azerbaijan since 2003.

Elections in Russia

On the federal level, Russia elects a president as head of state and a legislature, one of the two chambers of the Federal Assembly. The president is elected for, at most, two consecutive six-year terms by the people. The Federal Assembly has two chambers. The State Duma has 450 members, elected for five-year terms, using a system of proportional representation, where parties gain a percentage of seats equal to the percentage of national votes they gained, with a 7% threshold required to gain any seats in the Duma. The Federation Council is not directly elected; each of the 85 federal subjects of Russia sends 2 delegates to the Federal Council, for a total of 170 members.

Elections in Belarus

Belarus elects on national level a head of state - the president - and a legislature. The president is elected for a five-year term by the people. The National Assembly has two chambers. The House of Representatives has 110 members elected in single-seat constituencies elected for a four-year term. The Council of the Republic has 64 members, 56 members indirectly elected and eight members appointed by the president.

National Assembly (Azerbaijan)

The National Assembly, also transliterated as Milli Majlis, is the legislative branch of government in Azerbaijan. The unicameral National Assembly has 125 deputies: previously 100 members were elected for five-year terms in single-seat constituencies and 25 were members elected by proportional representation; as of the latest election, however, all 125 deputies are returned from single-member constituencies. Milli Majlis was the first secular republican parliament in the Muslim world.

Human rights in Azerbaijan

After adaptation of Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan (1995), new legislative acts and amendments were issued in line with democratic principles and in consistency with requirements of international law within the legal reforms in Azerbaijan. Generally, there are 48 Articles regarding principal human and Civil Rights and Freedoms in the Constitution of Azerbaijan. In particular, section 3 of the Constitution establishes the major rights and freedoms of citizens of Azerbaijan, including human rights, property rights, equality rights, intellectual property rights, civil rights, the rights of the accused, the right to strike, social security, the right to vote and freedom of speech, conscience and thought.

2007 Armenian parliamentary election

Parliamentary elections were held in Armenia on 12 May 2007. 1,364 candidates ran for the 131 seats, 41 of which were constituency seats with the remaining 90 being filled by a proportional party-list system. The electoral threshold is five per cent.

2005 Nagorno-Karabakh parliamentary election

The 2005 Nagorno-Karabakh parliamentary elections were held in the internationally unrecognised Nagorno-Karabakh Republic on 19 June 2005. The election saw the two pro-government parties, the Democratic Party of Artsakh and Free Motherland, win a large majority of seats. The opposition criticised the conduct of the election but international election monitors generally praised the election.

2008 Azerbaijani presidential election presidential election

A presidential election was held in Azerbaijan on 15 October 2008. Ilham Aliyev of the New Azerbaijan Party was re-elected with 87% of the votes, according to official results. Several major political parties, including Musavat, the Azerbaijan Popular Front Party, Azerbaijan Liberal Party, and the Azerbaijan Democratic Party boycotted the vote because of alleged poll-fixing and oppression of political opponents.

April 2009 Moldovan parliamentary election

Parliamentary elections were held in Moldova on 5 April 2009. The Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova (PCRM) won a majority of seats for the third consecutive occasion. Turnout was 59%, exceeding the 50% necessary for the election to be valid.

A constitutional referendum was held in Azerbaijan on 18 March 2009. It consisted of 29 measures voted on separately; the most controversial were a measure to abolish presidential term limits and a measure to greatly restrict press freedom. The measures passed, with approval of measures between 87.14% and 91.76%, disapproval between 4.59% and 7.24% and invalid votes between 3.64% and 5.70%; turnout was 71.08%.

2010 Nagorno-Karabakh parliamentary election

A parliamentary election was held in the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic on 23 May 2010.

2011 Kazakh presidential election

Early presidential elections were held in Kazakhstan on 3 April 2011, having been originally scheduled for 2012.

2012 Kazakh legislative election

Parliamentary elections were held in Kazakhstan on 15 January 2012. The result was a victory for the Nur Otan party, which won 83 of the 98 seats in the Mazhilis. However, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) stated that the election "did not meet fundamental principles of democratic elections."

2012 Belarusian parliamentary election

Parliamentary elections were held in Belarus on 23 September 2012. At stake were the 110 seats in the House of Representatives, the lower house of the National Assembly of Belarus.

2013 Azerbaijani presidential election

Presidential elections were held in Azerbaijan on 9 October 2013. The result was a victory for incumbent President Ilham Aliyev, who received 84.5% of the vote, whilst leading opposition candidate Jamil Hasanli finished second with 5.5% of the vote.

2014 European Parliament election in Hungary

The European Parliament election, 2014 for the election of the delegation from Hungary to the European Parliament was held on 25 May 2014.

2018 Azerbaijani presidential election

Presidential elections were held in Azerbaijan on Wednesday, 11 April 2018. Eight candidates ran for the presidency. Incumbent President Ilham Aliyev was re-elected president for a seven-year term. The election was the first since the 2016 Constitutional Referendum, which extended the presidential term from five to seven years.

Parliamentary elections were held in Azerbaijan on 1 November 2015. The result was a victory for the ruling New Azerbaijan Party, which won 69 of the 125 seats in the National Assembly amidst an opposition boycott.

References

  1. ↑ "Azerbaijan goes to polls on 7 November". News.Az. 2010-05-06. Archived from the original on 2010-05-11. Retrieved 2010-08-21.
  2. ↑ Levy, Clifford (8 November 2010). "Ruling Party Takes Majority of Seats in Elections". New York Times. Retrieved 2010-11-08.
  3. ↑ Candidates still being registered for parliamentary elections News.az, October 13, 2010
  4. 1 2 http://www.presstv.ir/detail/150245.html
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Monitors criticise Azeri elections". Al-Jazeera English.
  6. ↑ Empire Grows Radio Free Europe Feature, August 13, 2010
  7. ↑ Human rights defender harassed for publishing report on press violations IFEX, July 23, 2010
  8. ↑ Azerbaijan passes law further restricting media Boston Globe, February 13, 2010
  9. ↑ Observation of the parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan (7 November 2010) PACE
  10. ↑ "European Court Finds Azerbaijan Guilty Of Election Fraud - Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty © 2010". Rferl.org. 2010-04-09. Retrieved 2010-08-21.
  11. ↑ "European Court of Human Rights makes decision on Flora Kerimova's application - apa © 2010". apa.az. 2010-09-30. Archived from the original on 2012-03-11. Retrieved 2010-09-30.
  12. ↑ Azerbaijan: "Come, vote, elect" Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso
  13. 1 2 http://www.rferl.org/archive/Caucasus_Report/latest/963/963.html
  14. ↑ http://english.aljazeera.net/video/asia/2010/11/201011875513920574.html
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.