Azerbaijan to Hold Early Parliamentary Elections in September
The Facts
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has called for snap parliamentary elections to take place on Sept. 1, two months earlier than the upcoming vote was due to be held.
This comes as he signed an order to dissolve the sixth convocation of the country's parliament, known as the Milli Majlis, and set snap elections.
The Spin
Narrative A
The call for a snap election was widely expected and should not come as much of a surprise to anyone. It would likely be very complicated to hold large elections like this one at the same time the country hosts a major international event. By moving the elections up two months, the country can give its full attention to both. This makes the most sense.
Narrative B
It doesn't matter if Azerbaijan is hosting COP29 or any other major international summit; the Basic Law should always guide key decisions, not political assessments. And the order to dissolve the National Assembly and call for snap elections is unconstitutional because none of the conditions under which that can happen are present at the moment.