Azerbaijan To Hold Snap Election On 7 Feb

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has called a snap election to take place on 7 Feb 2024. The next election was not due to take place until April 2025, but have been brought forward, with Aliyev seeking a fourth consecutive term in office after taking over the presidency from his father, Heydar Aliyev, in 2003.

• The last elections in 2013 weredescribed by the OSCEas having taken place, "within a restrictive political environment and under laws that curtail fundamental rights and freedoms, which are prerequisites for genuine democratic elections."
• Aliyev is riding a wave of public support following Azerbaijani forces' full seizure of the long-contested Nagorno-Karabakh region from Armenia in September. Areas of the territory and its surroundings had been under Azerbaijani control since 2020.
• Following a lengthy blockade of the main road into Armenian-held locales Azerbaijan's forces were able to swiftly gain the whole region in September.
• The announcement of the election comes a day after the Kremlin confirmed that Russia will hold its presidential election on 17 March 2024.