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Azerbaijan to Hold Snap Parliamentary Election

By Yaver Kazimbeyli June 28, 2024

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The constitution of Azerbaijan mandates that elections for each term of the Milli Majlis are held every five years, meaning each parliament has a five-year term. / Milli Mejlis of Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan will hold a snap parliamentary election this fall following the Constitutional Court's approval of the president's request based on the parliament's application to dissolve itself.

On Friday, President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree to dissolve the parliament and set the early elections for September 1, 2024.

On Thursday, the Constitutional Court of Azerbaijan held a Plenum meeting to assess the president's request regarding the constitutional validity of the parliament's application for snap elections.

Following the meeting, led by Chairman Farhad Abdullayev, the court concluded that dissolving the Milli Majlis (parliament) and the scheduling of the snap elections were constitutional according to Article 981, Azertag reported.

The court's decision was declared immediate, final, and not subject to change or interpretation by any authority.

On June 21, the Azerbaijani parliament requested President Ilham Aliyev to dissolve the legislative body and schedule snap elections. The request for early parliamentary elections was initiated by the ruling New Azerbaijan Party, which holds 72 out of the 125 seats in Azerbaijan’s unicameral parliament.

The parliament argued that it was essential to have a new composition of the legislature representing the country's restored territorial integrity for COP29, to use effectively the parliamentary diplomacy and ensure continuous legislative activities during the significant event.

The previous parliamentary election in Azerbaijan, held in February 2020, was also a snap election. The upcoming snap election will form Azerbaijan's 7th convocation of the Milli Majlis.

The Constitutional Court's decision at the time specified that until the new composition is ready, the dissolved parliament should continue to operate for exceptional situations.

This includes vital functions such as approving presidential decrees on martial law and a state of emergency in cases like partial occupation of the country’s territory, declarations of war by foreign states, real threats of armed attack, blockade, or threat of blockade.

Therefore, the dissolved parliament retains its powers for these critical functions until the 125-member new legislature is formed. Additionally, its representation in international organizations remains unchanged.

The constitution of Azerbaijan mandates that elections for each term of the Milli Majlis are held every five years on the first Sunday in November, meaning each parliament has a five-year term.

However, a 2016 constitutional amendment allows the term of the 125 deputies elected in snap elections to be less than five years. In these instances, elections are held on the first Sunday in November of the fifth year of the parliament’s term.

Since the last parliamentary election was on February 9, 2020, the fifth year of the current legislature began on February 10 this year. According to the constitutional order, the next parliamentary elections were initially expected to be set for the first Sunday of November this year, which is November 3, 2024.

Members of parliament are elected for five-year terms through a majority electoral system that is based on universal, equal and direct elections by citizens of Azerbaijan. The recently dissolved parliament was the sixth legislature of its kind since 1995.