Azerbaijani CEC registers Ilham Aliev as presidential candidate

Today, Ilham Aliev, the incumbent President of Azerbaijan, has been registered as a presidential candidate. The decision on registration has been unanimously made by members of the Central Election Commission (CEC).

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in Azerbaijan, the presidential election was scheduled for October 17, 2018. However, on February 5, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev appointed early elections on April 11, without presenting any reasons for the move. The opposition criticized this decision, explaining it by authorities' desire "to ease falsifications and not to allow the opposition to get properly prepared."

Today, the Central Election Commission of Azerbaijan has held a meeting to consider the issue on registration of Ilham Aliev as a presidential candidate, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent has been informed by an official from the press service for the CEC of Azerbaijan.

According to him, authorized representatives of Ilham Aliev submitted to the CEC 900 subscription lists with 45,000 signatures.

Of them, 42,000 signatures were verified, and since the number of authentic signatures was recognized to be enough to register a candidate, the verification was stopped, the CEC official explained.

The press officer has emphasized that CEC members approved the registration of Ilham Aliev unanimously.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.