Azerbaijan flag Azerbaijan: Economic and Political Overview

The political framework of Azerbaijan

Political Outline

Current Political Leaders
President: Ilham ALIYEV (since October 2003, reelected 7 February 2024) - YAP
Prime Minister: Ali ASADOV (since 8 October 2019) - Independent
Next Election Dates
Presidential: 2031
National Assembly: 2025
Main Political Parties
While the parliament is currently led by the YAP party, independents make up the second-largest political presence. Yet, opposition parties in Azerbaijan regularly factionalize and form new parties. The most prominent ones include:
- New Azerbaijan Party (YAP): centre-right, nationalist, secularist
- Civic Solidarity Party (CSP): centre-right, nationalist, conservative
- Motherland Party (AVP): centre-right, nationalist, conservative
- Azerbaijani Popular Front Party: centre-right, reformist, nationalist

Other prominent parties include: Great Order Party, Democratic Reforms Party, Unity Party, Civic Unity Party, Azerbaijan Democratic Enlightenment Party, Republican Alternative, and National Front Party.

Executive Power
The President is the chief of the state and is elected by popular vote for a five-year term. He holds the executive powers. The President appoints the Prime minister (who is the head of the government) and the Council of Ministers, who have to be confirmed by the National Assembly.
Legislative Power
The legislature is unicameral in Azerbaijan. The parliament, called the National Assembly, has 125 seats with its members being elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms. However, the National Assembly has historically been a weak body with little real influence. Azerbaijan has a strong presidential system in which the legislative and judicial branches have only limited independence. The people of Azerbaijan enjoy limited political rights.
 

Indicator of Freedom of the Press

Definition:

The world rankings, published annually, measures violations of press freedom worldwide. It reflects the degree of freedom enjoyed by journalists, the media and digital citizens of each country and the means used by states to respect and uphold this freedom. Finally, a note and a position are assigned to each country. To compile this index, Reporters Without Borders (RWB) prepared a questionnaire incorporating the main criteria (44 in total) to assess the situation of press freedom in a given country. This questionnaire was sent to partner organisations,150 RWB correspondents, journalists, researchers, jurists and human rights activists. It includes every kind of direct attacks against journalists and digital citizens (murders, imprisonment, assault, threats, etc.) or against the media (censorship, confiscation, searches and harassment etc.).

World Rank:
167/180
 

Indicator of Political Freedom

Definition:

The Indicator of Political Freedom provides an annual evaluation of the state of freedom in a country as experienced by individuals. The survey measures freedom according to two broad categories: political rights and civil liberties. The ratings process is based on a checklist of 10 political rights questions (on Electoral Process, Political Pluralism and Participation, Functioning of Government) and 15 civil liberties questions (on Freedom of Expression, Belief, Associational and Organizational Rights, Rule of Law, Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights). Scores are awarded to each of these questions on a scale of 0 to 4, where a score of 0 represents the smallest degree and 4 the greatest degree of rights or liberties present. The total score awarded to the political rights and civil liberties checklist determines the political rights and civil liberties rating. Each rating of 1 through 7, with 1 representing the highest and 7 the lowest level of freedom, corresponds to a range of total scores.

Ranking:
Not Free
Political Freedom:
7/7

Political freedom in the world (interactive map)
Source: Freedom in the World Report, Freedom House

 

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Latest Update: April 2024