BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 7. The extraordinary presidential election in Azerbaijan will determine the vector of the state's movement forward, Igor Korotchenko, Director General of the Caspian Institute for Strategic Studies (Russia), who arrived at polling station № 7 in Sabail district, told reporters, Trend reports.
"The extraordinary presidential election is a very important event in the life of Azerbaijan today. They will determine the future vector of the state's movement forward. Of course, a significant factor is that this election is held for the first time on the entire territory of Azerbaijan, including the liberated territories. I think that the high activity of Azerbaijani voters is a manifestation of the sense of civil patriotism, and responsibility for their country. All this will be a significant factor in the development and movement of Azerbaijan forward. The choice that the Azerbaijani people make today is fateful, it is for many years to come. I think that we here, as international observers, see, first of all, very high activity, very clear work of members of election commissions, but also in general great interest and activity of Azerbaijani voters," he said.
From 08:00 (GMT+4), polling stations will be open for voters, and close at 19:00. The Central Election Commission Secretariat's Information Center will share preliminary updates on the voting process and results at 15:00, 17:00, and 19:00.
Candidates for the presidency in the upcoming election include incumbent President Ilham Aliyev (New Azerbaijan Party), independent contenders Zahid Oruj and Fuad Aliyev, Razi Nurullayev (National Front Party), Fazil Mustafa (Great Order Party), Elshad Musayev (Great Azerbaijan Party), and Gudrat Gasanguliyev (Whole Azerbaijan Popular Front Party).
The voter roll boasts 6,478,623 people who will cast their votes across 6,537 polling stations throughout the country.
A total of 90,372 observers are registered to monitor the election, with 790 of them representing 72 international organizations from 89 countries.
For the first time in the history of independent Azerbaijan, the upcoming election will span across the entire country, including the lands liberated from Armenian occupation in 2020. In the liberated territories, 26 polling stations have been established.
For Azerbaijani citizens residing abroad, 49 polling stations have been established in the embassies and consulates of 37 countries. This allows over 23,000 expatriates to participate in the voting process from various corners of the globe.
A robust media presence of 190 international entities is dedicated to observing the election, with 216 of their representatives officially registered as international observers.
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