Azerbaijan Government

The Republic of Azerbaijan practices a semi-presidential system where the executive President is the head of state while the Prime Minister is the head of government. The president and government exercise executive power while parliament has the legislative power. Locally, residents call the government Azarbaycan Respublikasi and it has existed in its current form since 1991.

The President of Azerbaijan is elected by the citizens of Azerbaijan. Out of 9 million people living in Azerbaijan, around 5 million are registered to vote. Of these, an average of 60% of voter turnout is expected.

Built in the twentieth century, the National Assembly building of Azerbaijan, locally known as the Milli Majlis, is in the capital city Baku. The main residence of the president, from where he also works, is the Presidential Building (Presidential apparatus) and lies along Istiglaliyyat Street in Baku. Tahir Allahverdiyev and Madat Khalafov designed this building and construction works ended in 1986. This building, made of granite and marble, initially housed the presidential administrative center before becoming a palace in 2005. Since 2008, President Aliyev has lived in Zagulba in addition to other vacation residences like Novkhani and Khoshbulaq in Novkhani and Dashkasan District.

Azerbaijan is a multiparty state although one party, the Yeni Azerbaijan Party (New Azerbaijan Party), is dominant and other political parties have no realistic chances of gaining power. This party has an overwhelming majority in the unicameral parliament. Government-leaning candidates and opposition parties considered to be “soft” towards the government occupy the remaining seats. This situation usually eliminates any form of opposition in parliament. Azerbaijan has received criticism in the past because of electoral laws that were pro-government and discouraged opposition supporters leading to low voter turnouts during elections. Citizens who are eighteen years and above must register with the electoral governing body in order to vote. Before the 2009 constitutional referendum changes, the President had a two-term limit. Currently, a president serves for unlimited terms of seven years each.