SAEDNEWS: Polls have opened in Azerbaijan for a snap parliamentary election, the first since it regained full control of the former breakaway territory of Karabakh in a lightning offensive last year against ethnic Armenian forces.
According to SAEDNEWS, Voting began at 8am (04:00 GMT) on Sunday and will close at 7pm (15:00 GMT). More than 6.4 million people are registered to vote in the oil-rich nation. Voting is being held in Karabakh for the first time in 30 years, AP reported.
The governing party holds 69 of the 125 seats in the outgoing parliament.
Under the constitution, the election was due in November, but Aliyev issued a decree advancing the election as Baku would be hosting the United Nations climate talks, COP29.
The election comes just short of a year after Azerbaijani forces reclaimed Karabakh region, which had been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since 1994, in a military operation and forced out its self-declared government.
The country’s Central Election Commission says 50 organizations have been conducting observer missions. The largest observer contingent, from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, is scheduled to present its preliminary assessment of the election on Monday.
