BAKU: Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev on Friday announced snap parliamentary polls for September 1. Aliyev in a decree ordered the dissolution of the parliament, which is dominated by his New Azerbaijan party.
The 62-year-old president, who has been in power since 2003, secured a fifth presidential term in February this year. The vote was set to be held in 2025. His party, which has 69 of 125 seats in the parliament, is expected to win a new majority in the oil-rich central Asian country.
Azerbaijan which enjoys strong ties with the west will host the United Nations climate change summit, known as the Conference of the Parties or COP29 from November 11-22.
Lawmakers last week requested Aliyev to dissolve parliament and call the fresh elections two months ahead of schedule to avoid holding it during a major global event. The Constitutional Court approved the change on Thursday, which was criticized by opposition parties.
As most of the power lies with the presidency, parliament has a limited role in shaping affairs in the Caspian Sea nation.
Last month Azerbaijan and Armenia agreed on a deal on disputed sections of their shared border, a new step towards normalizing relations between the historic rivals.
The deal brokered between the two Caucasus nations, former Soviet republics, entails the return of four border villages to Azerbaijan, which were seized by Armenia during the 1990s. Both Yerevan and Baku express aspirations to achieve a comprehensive peace agreement.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have a history marred by conflict, including two wars fought in the 1990s and in 2020 over the contested Nagorno-Karabakh region.
