The current president of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, won the early presidential elections held on February 7. He has been in power since 2003.
Elections in Azerbaijan
As of the evening of February 7, the head of the Central Election Commission (CEC), Mazakhir Panakhov, announced the results of the data obtained from 54.47% of the polling stations.
According to data received by the CEC from 3,561 out of 6,537 polling stations (54.47 percent), Ilham Aliyev has currently received 92.1 percent of the votes.
Seven candidates are running for the post of President of Azerbaijan. They will lose to Aliyev by a large margin:
Oruj Zahid Magherram — 2.2%;
Mustafa Fazil Ghazanfar — 1.99%
Gudrat Muzaffar of Hasanguliyev — 1.78%;
Nurullaev Razi Gulamali — 0.79%;
Musayev Elshad Nabi — 0.66%;
Aliyev Fuad Agasi oglu — 0.48%.
The election process was observed by 790 international observers representing 72 international organisations and 89 countries. The elections are covered by 216 representatives of 109 international media structures.
Observers criticised the elections as unfree and unfair against the suppression of independent media and the absence of real opposition.
Aliyev's presidency
The last presidential election of Azerbaijan was held on April 11, 2018, instead of October 17. They were also extraordinary. Aliyev won the election with 86.53% of the vote.
According to RFE/RL, presidential elections in Azerbaijan were not supposed to be held until 2025, but Aliyev announced early voting after Baku regained control over Nagorno-Karabakh.
The vote also coincides with the 20th anniversary of the rule of Aliyev, who has been president since 2003, when he replaced his father Heydar Aliyev, who was president from 1993-2003.
Opposition parties of Azerbaijan boycotted the race. Aliyev's opponents in this year's elections were pro-government politicians who praised him for restoring territorial integrity.
