Shazia Anwer Cheema
Baku, Azerbaijan: Festivity is everywhere in Baku as all is set for the February 7 (tomorrow) snap presidential election in Azerbaijan, in which 6,320,500 registered voters will elect their new president out of seven candidates running for the presidency, including the sitting President Ilham Aliyev.
The February 7th snap presidential election is the first since Azerbaijan took complete control of the liberated Garabagh (Karabagh) region. The Commander-in-Chief of the historic 44-day war, President Ilham Aliyev, is enjoying tremendous popularity. Recent surveys confirm that over 75 % of the population approved Ilham Aliyev as the “strongest and the most successful ruler of the recent era”.
The Central Election Commission (CEC) concluded the distribution of ballot papers to district election commissions on February 1, and the District Election Commissions (DECs) have concluded the process of transferring ballot papers to the Precinct Election Commissions. The printing of ballot papers began on January 24 and 6,524,203 copies were printed.
Sitting President Ilham Aliyev was chosen by the ruling New Azerbaijan Party (YAP) to participate in the extraordinary presidential election. There are seven registered candidates to run in the extraordinary presidential election on February 7, 2024.
According to official data, as many as 6,300 polling stations have been established in 125 districts, as the number of districts increased from 119 to 125 after Azerbaijan reclaimed and liberated its illegally occupied regions from Armenia.
This snap presidential election has received extraordinary attention worldwide, and over 800 international election observers have already reached this energy-rich Caucasian country. According to official information, each polling location will have a maximum of 15 observers.
The following is information about candidates and their nominated registered parties:
Registered candidates
1-Ilham Aliyev
Party: The New Azerbaijan Party
Date of Birth: December 24, 1961
2-Zahid Oruc
Party: Independent
Date of Birth: February 1, 1972
3-Fazil Mustafa
Party: The Great Order Party
Date of Birth: Oct 15, 1965
4-Elshad Musaev
Party: Great Azerbaijan
Date of Birth: 05 September 1963
5-Gudrat Hasanguliyev
Party: Whole Azerbaijan Popular Front Party
Date of Birth: January 29, 1965
6-Razi Nurullayev
Party: National Front Party
Date of Birth: Apr 1, 1971
7-Fuad Aliyev
Party: Independent
It is pertinent to mention that President Aliyev is completing 20 years in power and marking history with a new election after winning the historic 44-day Patriotic War and gaining control of the Karabagh region after almost 30 years of illegal occupation of Armenia.
The Central Election Commission (CEC) of Azerbaijan has established the “Election – 2024” Independent Media Center, which facilitates international and national election observers as well as foreign and local media. According to CEC data, over 65,000 national observers from 19 national political parties have been accredited to monitor the election.
