The previous
2018 presidential election was held months ahead of schedule which saw the re-election of long-time authoritarian president
Ilham Aliyev, in power since 2003, securing a fourth consecutive term in office after obtaining 86% of the vote. The election was boycotted by the Azerbaijani opposition and criticized for its conduct and early schedule amid allegations of irregularities and
electoral fraud. President Aliyev's fourth presidential term was initially marked by a series of socioeconomic reforms, where he issued decrees addressing burdensome credit loans, providing compensation to the families of military veterans, and increasing student stipends, as well as issuing mass pardons to several political prisoners. He also made an effort attempt at diversifying the oil-dependent Azerbaijani economy. In late 2019, the
National Assembly dissolved itself, which triggered the
February 2020 parliamentary election, with the move being viewed as Aliyev's possible preparation for an
order of succession, where he would eventually hand over presidency to his wife, First Vice President
Mehriban Aliyeva, as a way to ensure the Aliyev family's
dynastic rule over Azerbaijan. The parliamentary election campaign, initially offering a glimmer of political change, nevertheless saw Aliyev's ruling
New Azerbaijan Party retaining a majority of deputy seats. From 2020, Aliyev endured the outbreak of
COVID-19 pandemic in Azerbaijan, where a series of controversial anti-lockdown laws were introduced that allowed for the Azerbaijani government to crackdown on political opposition and silence anti-government critics over the country's response to the pandemic, which Aliyev referred to as a "
fifth column" attempting to "destroy Azerbaijan". The Azerbaijani government also introduced a series of anti-crisis packages that were aimed at relieving the economic impact caused by the coronavirus pandemic, to which the emergency aid was later criticized for allegedly having citizens struggling to obtain it.
Nagorno-Karabakh and the 2023 Azerbaijani offensive The
Nagorno-Karabakh region has served as an epicenter of the
decades-long conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Since 1994 much of Nagorno-Karabakh, internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, was
de-facto under control by the ethnic Armenian-led breakaway state
Republic of Artsakh, with periods of occurring border skirmishes occurring in the 2010s. In July 2020,
border clashes took place between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces, sparking
massive pro-war protests in Azerbaijan which became increasingly grew following the deaths of military officers
Polad Hashimov and
Ilgar Mirzayev. The demonstrations in
Baku, leading to the storming of the Parliament building and clashes with the security forces, had profound impact on Azerbaijan's foreign policy as its believed to have been one of the causing factors that led to the following outbreak of the
Second Nagorno-Karabakh War in September 2020. The war lasted for approximately 44 days and resulted in an Azerbaijani victory, reclaiming control of the newly-captured territories and Armenian-occupied territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh in the aftermath of
November 2020 ceasefire agreement signed by Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Russia. Post-war stability within the Nagorno-Karabakh region was relatively short-lived, as the
Armenia–Azerbaijan border crisis began in 2021. From December 2022, Azerbaijan enforced a
blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh, sparking a
humanitarian crisis in Artsakh as the region grappled with the shortages of medication, food and fuel. In September 2023, Azerbaijan launched a
large-scale military offensive into Nagorno-Karabakh which lasted for a day, leading to the immediate surrender of the remaining Artsakhi forces, which effectively ended the existence of the Republic of Artsakh and resulted in the
mass exodus of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians.
Calling for snap election Article 178 of the Election Code of Azerbaijan stipulates that the presidential election must be held every third Wednesday of October of the last year of the
President’s term of office. The
2016 constitutional referendum previously extended the presidential term from five to seven years, with Aliyev being subsequently re-elected for a seven-year term in
2018 following the amendments to the
Constitution of Azerbaijan, thus making the presidential election originally set to take place on 15 October 2025. Article 101 §1 of the Constitution of Azerbaijan allows for the President to legally call a
snap election. In addition, the election day in Azerbaijan would be a
public holiday. Other analysts suggested the reasoning factor behind an early presidential election was due to Aliyev's attempt to take advantage of his high popularity following Azerbaijani's successful seizure of Nagorno-Karabakh. The timing of election was also noted by
Associated Press to have coincided ahead of the
2024 Russian presidential election, for which the alleged reason was due to attempts by Aliyev to minimize Russia's influence on the Azerbaijani election. Opposition leader
Ali Karimli assessed that a snap presidential election indicated Aliyev's desire to hold polls "in isolation from the democratic world" and fear of a change in the current "minimal political competition", where he speculated that Aliyev wanted to secure another seven-year presidential term before a potential Russian defeat in the
Russo-Ukrainian War which could according to his theory "upend the regional geopolitical situation to authoritarians' disfavor."
Musavat party chairman
Arif Hajili criticized the announcement of a snap presidential election, stating that holding an early vote hinders political competition and that it is problematic for the election campaign. In a following subsequent statement, the Musavat party claimed that the election date in winter will lead to a low voter turnout, accusing Azerbaijani authorities of turning the presidential election into "a formal procedure". == Electoral system ==