It is not terribly common to find
discussions of advancing democracy coming from countries that are perhaps more
associated with communism or socialism. However, it is perhaps from these previously
political states that the emergence of truly fair, free and open democracy can
have among the greatest impact, as just might be the case for Azerbaijan.
The former member of the Union of Soviet
Socialist Republics (USSR or “Soviet Union”) recently held its major national
election on November 1. The ruling Yeni Azerbaijan (“New Azerbaijan”) party,
headed by President Ilham Aliyev, was
re-elected with a sizable majority, taking 71 of the 125 seats in the
country's parliament. As a result, Aliyev will be leading the country for
another five years.
Unfortunately, this election was not
without its fair share of controversy. There have been allegations of ballot
stuffing at a number of the polls, for instance, as well as the
noted boycott by several of the nation's leading opposition parties. These
include the National Council of Democratic Forces (NCDF), the Musavat party,
and the Democratic Party of Azerbaijan. According to the NCDF, the polls in
Azerbaijan are “fully falsified” and do not accurately reflect the will of the
people of Azerbaijan.
A democracy cannot be fully respected and
hold the legitimate seat of power if the nation's people do not trust in the
integrity of the electoral process, especially when leading opposition parties
boycott the polls. This leads to an inherent skewing of the results, even
though voter turnout was a mere 55.7 percent.
To move the democracy forward and to earn
the respect of the Azerbaijan people, the electoral process in the nation is in
desperate need of reform. If the integrity of the election is not trusted, then
neither can the results and this can lead to further political upheaval.
Thankfully, the November 1 election was conducted in a peaceful manner with no
major stories of violence.
Looking ahead to the next election in 2020,
the greater possibility of a free, fair, open and transparent election is
possible, one where the major opposition parties may not feel compelled to
boycott. During a briefing on October 9, Azerbaijan Central Election Commission
(CEC) Information Center Director Rufat Gulmammadov indicated that electronic
voting technology could be suitably launched in the nation.
“If this issue is reflected in the
legislation, I believe that it can be resolved without any problems from the technical
point of view,” stated Gulmammadov. “If the issue of electronic voting will be
reflected in legislation of the country, this corporate network can act as a
platform for the launch of e-voting.”
He is referring to the corporate network of
the CEC itself, which can operate as the framework for an e-voting system in
Azerbaijan's national elections. The network has been in operation for more
than three years and has already been used successfully in previous elections.
The next major step would be for the parliament of Azerbaijan to pass
legislation that would facilitate the widespread adoption and deployment of
e-voting technology.
With greater reliability and transparency,
an electronically-powered election in Azerbaijan may be ready for 2020. Perhaps
then, the results will not be as heavily disputed and a point of rampant
controversy as this most current election.
