Azerbaijani presidential election, 2018

Last updated
Azerbaijani presidential election, 2018
Flag of Azerbaijan.svg
  2013 11 April 2018 (2018-04-11)2025 
Turnout 74.24%

  Ilham Aliyev November 2017.jpg Zahid Oruc2 (cropped).jpg
Nominee Ilham Aliyev Zahid Oruc
Party New Azerbaijan Independent
Home state Baku Gədəbəy
Popular vote3,394,898122,956
Percentage86.02%3.12%

President before election

Ilham Aliyev
New Azerbaijan

Elected President

Ilham Aliyev
New Azerbaijan

Presidential elections were held in Azerbaijan on Wednesday, 11 April 2018. [1] Eight candidates ran for the presidency. Incumbent President Ilham Aliyev was re-elected president for a seven-year term. [2] The election was the first since the 2016 Constitutional Referendum, which extended the presidential term from five to seven years. [3]

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.

Ilham Aliyev 4th President of Azerbaijan from 2003

Ilham Heydar oglu Aliyev is an Azerbaijani politician and currently the fourth President of Azerbaijan, in office since 2003. He also functions as the Chairman of the New Azerbaijan Party and the head of the National Olympic Committee.

Contents

Background

Article 178 §1 of the electoral law sets the third Wednesday of October as the date for presidential elections, which would have meant the elections were held on 17 October 2018. However, the vote was unexpectedly brought forward by a presidential decree on 5 February 2018. [1] Azerbaijan's Central Election Commission (CEC) held a poll on 1 February 2018 on the preparation and delivery of double cabins for the voting room. [4]

Electoral system

The President of Azerbaijan is elected using the two-round system; if no candidate receives a majority of the vote in the first round, a run-off is held. [5] Polls opened nationwide at 08:00 and closed at 19:00. [6]

President of Azerbaijan position

The President of the Republic of Azerbaijan is the head of state of Azerbaijan.

Two-round system voting system used to elect a single winner where a second round of voting is used if no candidate wins an absolute majority in the first round

The two-round system is a voting method used to elect a single winner, where the voter casts a single vote for their chosen candidate. However, if no candidate receives the required number of votes, then those candidates having less than a certain proportion of the votes, or all but the two candidates receiving the most votes, are eliminated, and a second round of voting is held.

Candidates

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.

Razi Nurullayev Azerbaijani politician

Razi Nurullayev is an Azerbaijani politician and political analyst. He is a chairperson of the AXCP since 2015 (claim) and until then served as the deputy-chairperson for Foreign Affairs from 2009 to February 2015. Before being elected as a chairperson of APFP on 17 October 2015, he had established the New Democracy Movement on 14 April 2015, in Azerbaijan's capital, Baku. He has also been a head of “Region” International Analytical Centre (RIAC) since 2012, a Baku-based think-tank in Azerbaijan working on policy issues in Post-Soviet Space.

Azerbaijani Popular Front Party

The Azerbaijani Popular Front Party (APFP) is an opposition political party in Azerbaijan, founded in 1992 by Abulfaz Elchibey. After Elchibey's death in 2000, the party split into two factions, the reform wing led by Ali Kerimli and the classical wing led by Mirmahmud Miralioglu.

The National Council of Democratic Forces (NCDF) decided to boycott the elections and intends to launch protests against the elections. [7] Another organisation, the Republican Alternative Movement (REAL), also announced that it would not recognize the results of the elections, calling them as a "hasty and unjustified step". [8] On 10 February the Musavat Party announced that it would also boycott the elections and its leader Isa Gambar would not run for president. The same day, another opposition party, the Party of Hope, also announced that they would not participate in the elections.

Isa Gambar Azerbaijan politician

Isa Yunis oglu Qambar, also known as Isa Gambar or Isa Qambar, is a prominent Azerbaijani politician and leader of the Equality Party (Müsavat), the largest opposition block in Azerbaijan.

Party of Hope (Azerbaijan) political party

The Party of Hope is an Azerbaijani political party, officially registered in 1993. In December 2002, a faction of the Civic Unity Party (CUP) led by Igbal Agazade split from CUP and joined the Party of Hope. On December 15, 2002, during the party's congress, Igbal Agazade became the chairman of the Party of Hope.

Conduct

The OSCE announced that the election was flawed and undemocratic. In a press conference the day after the election, the OSCE found that there was “widespread disregard for mandatory procedures, a lack of transparency, and numerous serious irregularities, including ballot box stuffing.” It is also noted that "at same time, authorities were co-operative, international observers were able to operate freely in the pre-election period, election administration was well-resourced and prepared the election efficiently and voting process was overall orderly and smooth in most polling stations observed." Aliyev's supporters took to disrupting the press conference and accused the international observation mission of bias. [9]

Polls

Opinion polls

A poll by ELS on 27 March found that 84.1% of respondents intended to vote for Aliyev. A poll by AJF & Associates on 28 March concluded that 82.9% or respondents intended to vote for Aliyev.[ citation needed ]

DatePollster Aliyev Hasanguliyev Mamedov Hajiyev Guliyev Oruc Alizada Nurullayev Against allUndecidedAbstention
2–3 April 2018 Omnibus 83.5%2.0%1.7%1.6%1.1%0.9%0.7%0.5%2.5%2.3%3.2%

Exit polls

PollsterDate Aliyev Hasanguliyev Mamedov Hajiyev Guliyev Oruc Alizada Nurullayev
Els 11 April 201882.71%4.23%3.56%2.10%1.33%3.37%1.87%0.92%
Opinion Way 11 April 201886.53%3.10%2.81%1.73%1.03%2.92%1.21%0.67%
Arthur J. Finkelstein & Associates 11 April 201885.57%2.96%2.48%1.76%1.52%2.92%1.42%1.37%

Results

CandidatePartyVotes%
Ilham Aliyev New Azerbaijan Party 3,394,89886.02
Zahid OrujIndependent122,9563.12
Sardar Mammadov Azerbaijan Democratic Party 119,6213.03
Gudrat Hasanguliyev Whole Azerbaijan Popular Front Party 119,3113.02
Hafiz Hajiyev Modern Equality Party 59,9241.52
Araz Alizadeh Social Democratic Party 54,5331.38
Faraj Guliyev National Revival Movement Party 45,9671.17
Razi Nurullayev Independent29,2290.74
Invalid/blank votes12,413
Total3,958,852100
Registered voters/turnout5,332,81774.24
Source: CEC

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References