Early presidential election to take place in Azerbaijan

BAKU. Feb 7 (Interfax) - An early presidential election will take place in Azerbaijan on Wednesday, February 7.

That would be the ninth presidential election and the second consecutive early election in Azerbaijan. This is also the first election to be held nationwide after the restoration of Azerbaijan's territorial integrity in September 2023.

Polling stations will be open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Ove 90,000 local and foreign election observers have been registered. The candidate to gain over 50% of votes will be elected president.

Azerbaijan has 6,478,623 voters. They will cast ballots at 6,537 polling stations, including 26 polling stations in the liberated territories (Karabakh and East Zangezur). Forty-nine polling stations will operate in 37 countries for Azerbaijani citizens. Some 1,000 polling stations are equipped with web cameras.

On December 7, 2023, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed an order to hold early presidential election on February 7, 2024. The regular election was due in April 2025. Aliyev told Azerbaijani television on January 10, 2024, that a reason for holding the early presidential election was the full restoration of Azerbaijani sovereignty following the local anti-terrorist operation in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan on September 19-20, 2023. He said it was important for the presidential election to be the first ballot held throughout the country.

There are seven candidates in the campaign, including the incumbent president to stand in the fifth election.

The Azerbaijani president has a seven-year term of office, and there are no limits on the number of terms.

The previous presidential election took place in April 2018, and Aliyev won by 86.22% of the vote with the 74.51% voter turnout.

Aliyev has been the president of Azerbaijan since October 2003.