Azeri Leader Aliyev Calls Snap Presidential Election for April

(Bloomberg) -- Azeri President Ilham Aliyev called a snap presidential election for April 11, six months ahead of schedule, in a surprise move that drew criticism from his domestic opponents.

Aliyev, who’s been in office since 2003, offered no explanation in a decree announcing the decision on Monday. The election was previously slated for Oct. 17. The ruling New Azerbaijan Party, known as YAP, earlier said it would nominate Aliyev for the presidency again, potentially extending his rule to 2025.

The vote will be the first to take place since a September 2016 referendum called by Aliyev that expanded his powers and extended the presidential term to seven years from five. Aliyev succeeded his father, Heydar, who ruled independent Azerbaijan for a decade until his death in 2003 and was Communist head of the Soviet republic for more than 13 years until 1982. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe has criticized past elections in the oil-rich country as falling short of democratic standards. The Azeri government has rejected claims of vote rigging.

The election’s being moved to ensure it doesn’t clash with “important domestic and international events” later in the year, presidential aide Ali Hasanov said in an interview with state news agency Azartac. These include centenary celebrations of the Azerbaijani Democratic Republic, an independent Azeri state that existed for nearly two years from May 1918 before being captured by Bolshevik Russia and later incorporated into the Soviet Union.

Aliyev’s announcement is intended to catch the opposition by surprise and prevent it rallying public support for free and fair elections, according to Ali Karimli, leader of the opposition Popular Front of Azerbaijan Party. “This is a plan not to hold elections but to steal them,” he said in a video address on Facebook.

To contact the reporter on this story: Zulfugar Agayev in Baku at zagayev@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Torrey Clark at tclark8@bloomberg.net, Tony Halpin, Gregory L. White

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