BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 7. The voting process in the extraordinary presidential election in Azerbaijan is going on calmly, in a working atmosphere, Vitalie Jacot, a member of the Moldovan parliament and chairman of the parliamentary friendship group between Moldova and Azerbaijan, told Trend.
"I would like to note that my first impressions were created two years ago when I visited Shusha for the first time. At that time, we got acquainted with the situation on the ground as part of a parliamentary-governmental delegation from Moldova. Moldova supports the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. We emphasize this all the time. We are happy for the Azerbaijani people, who were able to restore their territorial integrity. Impressions about the voting process are positive. We have observed all the processes and asked questions. We liked the openness of both officials and voters themselves. We talked to residents who were born here and now live here. Accordingly, they choose their leadership. The impressions are positive. There were no excesses, the process is taking place calmly, in a working environment," he said.
To note, voting in the presidential election is going on in Azerbaijan.
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).
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 Baku time.
The crucial cutoff for candidate registration came on January 9, with seven contenders now in the race for the presidential seat.
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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