The political framework of Azerbaijan

Political Outline

Current Political Leaders

President: Ilham ALIYEV (since October 2003, reelected 7 February 2024)
Prime Minister: Ali ASADOV (since 8 October 2019)

Next Election Dates

Presidential: 2031
National Assembly: November 2029

Main Political Parties

The National Assembly is currently dominated by the ruling New Azerbaijan Party (YAP), while independent deputies form the second-largest bloc. However, opposition parties in Azerbaijan often experience internal divisions, leading to frequent splintering and the formation of new parties. Among the more prominent political forces are:

New Azerbaijan Party (YAP): Centre-right, nationalist, secularist
Civic Solidarity Party (CSP): Centre-right, nationalist, conservative
Motherland Party (AVP): Centre-right, nationalist, conservative
Azerbaijani Popular Front Party: Centre-right, reformist, nationalist

Other active parties include the Great Order Party, Democratic Reforms Party, Unity Party, Civic Unity Party, Azerbaijan Democratic Enlightenment Party, Republican Alternative (REAL), and the National Front Party.

Executive Power

The President of Azerbaijan is the head of state and holds executive authority. He is elected by popular vote for a seven-year term, with no limit on the number of terms. The President appoints the Prime Minister—who serves as the head of government—subject to confirmation by the National Assembly (Milli Majlis). The President also appoints the Council of Ministers, who are responsible for implementing executive policies.

Legislative Power

Azerbaijan has a unicameral legislature known as the National Assembly (Milli Majlis), which consists of 125 members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms. However, the National Assembly has historically played a limited role in the political system and exerts little influence over executive decisions. Azerbaijan operates under a strong presidential system, where the separation of powers is minimal and the legislative and judicial branches have restricted independence. Political rights and civil liberties are limited, with significant constraints on opposition activities, media freedom, and public dissent.

Indicator of Freedom of the Press

Definition

Definition:

The world rankings, published annually, measures violations of press freedom worldwide. It reflects the degree of freedom enjoyed by journalists, the media and digital citizens of each country and the means used by states to respect and uphold this freedom. Finally, a note and a position are assigned to each country. To compile this index, Reporters Without Borders (RWB) prepared a questionnaire incorporating the main criteria (44 in total) to assess the situation of press freedom in a given country. This questionnaire was sent to partner organisations,150 RWB correspondents, journalists, researchers, jurists and human rights activists. It includes every kind of direct attacks against journalists and digital citizens (murders, imprisonment, assault, threats, etc.) or against the media (censorship, confiscation, searches and harassment etc.).

World Rank:: 167/180

Indicator of Political Freedom

Definition

Definition:

The Indicator of Political Freedom provides an annual evaluation of the state of freedom in a country as experienced by individuals. The survey measures freedom according to two broad categories: political rights and civil liberties. The ratings process is based on a checklist of 10 political rights questions (on Electoral Process, Political Pluralism and Participation, Functioning of Government) and 15 civil liberties questions (on Freedom of Expression, Belief, Associational and Organizational Rights, Rule of Law, Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights). Scores are awarded to each of these questions on a scale of 0 to 4, where a score of 0 represents the smallest degree and 4 the greatest degree of rights or liberties present. The total score awarded to the political rights and civil liberties checklist determines the political rights and civil liberties rating. Each rating of 1 through 7, with 1 representing the highest and 7 the lowest level of freedom, corresponds to a range of total scores.

Ranking:: Not Free
Political Freedom:: 7/7

Political freedom in the world (interactive map)
Source: Freedom in the World Report, Freedom House

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