GUAM delegation to monitor Azerbaijan’s snap parliamentary elections

The GUAM observation mission will monitor Azerbaijan’s snap parliamentary elections scheduled for September 1, Azernews reports.

The GUAM Secretariat announced that the five-member delegation will feature GUAM Secretary General Altay Efendiyev, Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada deputy Mykhailo Papiyev, Georgian MP David Matikashvili, and GUAM Secretariat coordinators Sabuhi Tamirov and Teimuraz Kiladze.

Following the elections, the GUAM observer mission will publish a report detailing the outcomes.

The elections have drawn considerable international attention, with 267 observers from 29 organizations and 46 countries registered to oversee the process.

Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry has invited several international bodies to observe the elections, including OSCE ODIHR, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), GUAM, the Non-Aligned Movement’s Youth Network, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), and the Organisation of Turkic States.

Additionally, 13 other international organizations, such as the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, the Interparliamentary Assembly of the CIS, and the Parliamentary Assembly of Turkic-speaking Countries (TURKPA), have also been invited.

The snap elections follow a decree by President Ilham Aliyev on June 28, which dissolved the previous parliament. The elections, set for September 1, 2024, mark a significant moment in Azerbaijan’s legislative process. The country’s electoral system generally elects members for five-year terms, but a 2016 constitutional amendment allows for shortened terms in cases of snap elections, with future elections scheduled for the first Sunday in November five years after the snap vote.