In a surprising turn of events, Azerbaijan's ruling New Azerbaijan Party secured the largest number of seats in the country's parliament during a snap election held on Sunday. Exit polls conducted by the US-based Oracle Advisory Group indicated that the party had won a significant 62 out of 125 seats, with non-partisan candidates claiming 43 seats and the remaining going to small pro-government parties.
The snap election was called by President Ilham Aliyev, who dissolved the parliament in June to prevent the elections from coinciding with the United Nation's Conference of the Parties (COP). The move came after Aliyev's landslide victory in an early presidential election earlier this year, which had been criticized for lacking genuine competition by observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
The electoral landscape of Azerbaijan has been overshadowed by the unresolved conflict with Armenia over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The recent offensive by Azerbaijan to reclaim control of the region led to accusations of ethnic cleansing as thousands of ethnic Armenians fled to neighboring Armenia.
Despite mediation efforts by various international bodies, a formal peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia has yet to materialize. The tense situation has also strained Azerbaijan's relations with key allies, including the US and the EU, with concerns raised over the crackdown on journalists, opposition figures, and civil society activists in the run-up to the election.
While the Central Electoral Commission is expected to release preliminary results soon, the Vienna-based OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights will provide its assessment of the election on Monday. International attention remains on Azerbaijan as it navigates the aftermath of the parliamentary election and grapples with ongoing geopolitical challenges in the region.