Presidential elections were held in Azerbaijan on 7 June 1992.[1] The elections were the first in Azerbaijan in more than seventy years not held under communist control and featured the unprecedented use of television, posters, and other media by multiple candidates to communicate platforms and solicit votes.[2]
The candidates included Azerbaijani Popular Front Party leader Abulfaz Elchibey, former parliament speaker Yaqub Mamedov, Movement for Democratic Reforms leader and Minister of Justice Ilyas Ismayilov, National Democratic Group leader Rafig Abdullayev, and Union of Democratic Intelligentsia candidate Nizami Suleymanov.[2] Two other candidates, from the Azerbaijan National Independence Party and the Popular Front Party, withdrew from the race during the campaign.[2] Elchibey received 61% of more than three million votes cast. The runner-up, Nizami Suleymanov, made a surprise showing of 34% of the vote by promising Azerbaijanis instant wealth and victory in Nagorno-Karabakh. No other candidate received more than five per cent of the vote.[2]
The election of Elchibey, a Soviet dissident who had been imprisoned by the KGB in the 1970s, signaled a break in Communist Party dominance of Azerbaijani politics.[3] The elections have since been described as the only competitive election in Azerbaijan's post-Soviet history.[3]
Electoral system
To register, each candidate had to collect at least 20,000 signatures and present them to the Central Election Commission. Heydar Aliyev was unable to run because of a constitutional provision barring candidates over sixty-five years of age.
Campaign
During the campaign, Elchibey pledged constitutional, economic, and cultural reforms would be implemented, according to this plan. His top domestic policy priorities, creation of a national army and a national currency backed by gold reserves, were seen as necessary elements for national sovereignty.[2]
Etibar Mammadov, Elchibey's main rival in the polls, dropped out of the race a few days before the election, calling for rule by a coalition government and the postponement of balloting until Azerbaijan's state of war with Armenia ended.[2]
Democratic Union of the Intelligentsia of Azerbaijan
1,017,217
33.84
Yaqub Mamedov
Independent
51,144
1.70
Ilyas Ismayilov
Social Movement for Democratic Reform in Azerbaijan
20,216
0.67
Rafig Abdullayev
People's Republic Party
15,646
0.52
Against all
72,099
2.40
Total
3,005,770
100.00
Valid votes
3,005,770
97.07
Invalid/blank votes
90,707
2.93
Total votes
3,096,477
100.00
Source: Nohlen et al.
Aftermath
Despite the new president's intentions, the war in Nagorno-Karabakh dominated politics, and Elchibey and his party steadily lost influence and popular appeal because of continual military losses, a worsening economy, political stalemate, and government corruption.[2]
References
^Dieter Nohlen, Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume I, p357 ISBN0-19-924958-X
^ abAltstadt, Audrey L. (1997), Parrott, Bruce; Dawisha, Karen (eds.), "Azerbaijan's struggle toward democracy", Conflict, Cleavage, and Change in Central Asia and the Caucasus, Democratization and Authoritarianism in Post-Communist Societies, Cambridge University Press, pp. 110–155, ISBN978-0-521-59731-9
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