On 7 February 2024, Azerbaijan goes to the polls to elect its president for the next 7-year term. Originally scheduled for 2025, the presidential election has been brought forward by a year and a half. This is the fifth presidential election current President Ilham Aliyev is running in after a referendum removing term limits was passed in 2009. He is widely expected to win again this year against the backdrop of Azerbaijan’s success in taking back control of the Nagorno-Karabakh region, and a nearly non-existent opposition and depleted civil society, with multiple political prisoners jailed.
The main takeaways from the day
- While official results will be released later, initial results show a resounding win for incumbent President Ilham Aliyev with over 90% of the vote.
- Cases of voter fraud were caught on tape throughout the day, including Azerbaijan’s infamous “carousel” voting.
- Opposition parties denounced the election as “undemocratic” and “illegitimate” in their statements.
- The long read: How Aliyev won Azerbaijan’s presidential elections for the fifth time in a row.
