Ilham Aliev to remain President of Azerbaijan for third term, experts believe

The outcome of the presidential election in Azerbaijan is obvious: incumbent President Ilham Aliev will retain the position for the third term. This opinion was expressed by experts and political analysts, questioned by the "Caucasian Knot".

Let us remind you that on August 2, the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Azerbaijan scheduled the next presidential elections in Azerbaijan for October 9. In total, the Central Election Commission has approved 21 candidates.

Despite the fact that large layers of the population are unsatisfied with the uneven distribution of oil revenues, the lack of social justice and of access to high-quality education and health care, the opposition failed to materialize the discontent into the mass popular movement. This was told to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent by Togrul Djuvarly, a member of the Azerbaijan's National Public Committee for European Integration.

The expert has stated that because of objective and subjective reasons, the opposition lost time to get prepared for the elections. On the one hand, the opposition failed to resolve the issue about the termination of the Russian citizenship of Rustam Ibragimbekov, Chairman of the National Council of Democratic Forces (NCDF). On the other hand, it delayed the discussions around alternatives for the NCDF's participation in the election.

According to the expert's opinion, if Ilham Aliev gains more than 75-80% of the votes, the result will not be treated by the international community as a legitimate reflection of the people's will.

It should be noted that the leaders of the oppositional parties and movements of Azerbaijan treat the Ilham Aliev's nomination for the presidency for the third subsequent term as illegitimate.