Crisis Phase (August 30, 1991-September 22, 1993): Azerbaijan declared its independence from the Soviet Union on August 30, 1991. Ayaz Niyaz Mutalibov was elected president on September 8, 1991. President Mutalibov resigned on March 6, 1992, and Yagub Mamedov was chosen as interim president. Parliament returned President Mutalibov to power on May 14, 1992. President Mutalibov declared a two-month state-of-emergency on May 15, 1992. Abulfaz Ali Elchibey was elected president with some 60 percent of the vote on June 7, 1992. Prime Minister Ragim Guseinov resigned on January 26, 1993, and President Elchibey appointed Ali Masimov as prime minister on January 27, 1993. The government declared a two-month state-of-emergency on April 3, 1993. Colonel Surat Guseinov led a rebellion against the government beginning on June 4, 1993. Prime Minister Panakh Guseinov resigned on June 7, 1993. The parliament voted to dismiss President Elchibey on June 18, 1993, and Heydar Aliyev was named as acting president on June 15, 1993. The parliament appointed Colonel Surat Guseinov as prime minister on June 27, 1993. The government extended the state-of-emergency for an additional 60 days on August 2, 1993. Azerbaijans disapproved of the government of President Elchibey in a referendum on August 29, 1993. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Parliamentary Assembly (PA) and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) established an election observation mission to monitor the referendum. The government lifted the state-of-emergency on September 22, 1993.
Post-Crisis Phase (September 23, 1993-present): Heydar Aliyev of the New Azerbaijan Party (YAP) was elected president with some 90 percent of the vote on October 3, 1993, and he was inaugurated as president on October 10, 1993. The OSCE/ODIHR established an election observation mission to monitor the presidential elections. The British Helsinki Human Rights Group (BHHRG) sent observers to monitor the presidential election. President Aliyev suppressed an attempted rebellion led by Ravshan Javadov in March 1995 (Ravshan Javadov was killed in the attempted rebellion). The United Nations and OSCE established a joint electoral assistance mission on September 15, 1995. Parliamentary elections were held on November 12 and November 26, 1995, and the YAP won 19 out of 25 seats contested by eight political parties in the 125-member National Assembly. The UN-OSCE mission, which consisted of some 100 election observers from 25 countries, reported that the elections were not free and fair in January 1996. The Council of Europe (COE) Parliamentary Assembly sent observers to monitor the parliamentary elections, and reported that the elections were not free and fair. The BHHRG sent observers to monitor the parliamentary elections. President Aliyev was re-elected president with some 76 percent of the vote on October 11, 1998. Several opposition parties boycotted the election. The National Democratic Institute (NDI) sent 22 observers from eight countries headed by Matyas Eorsi of Hungary to monitor the election process from October 6-14, 1998. The International Republican Institute (IRI) sent 18 observers to monitor the presidential elections beginning on October 8, 1998, and the IRI mission issued its report on December 23, 1998. The OSCE/ODIHR established an election observation mission consisting of eleven long-term observers and 148 short-term observers headed by Nikolai Vulchanov of Bulgaria to monitor the presidential elections from September 11 to October 16, 1998. The OSCE/ODIHR mission reported that there were several election irregularities during the presidential election. The COE Parliamentary Assembly sent nine observers headed by Zdravka Busic of Croatia to monitor the election process beginning on October 8, 1998. The COE mission reported on November 3, 1998 that the elections “were marred by serious shortcomings.” The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Inter-Parliamentary Assembly sent observers to monitor the presidential elections, and reported that the elections were “in keeping with national legislation and international standards.” Russia sent observers to monitor the presidential elections. The BHHRG sent four observers to monitor the presidential elections beginning on October 10, 1998. The BHHRG mission reported on October 17, 1998 that the presidential election “marked a serious improvement on the hopelessly flawed ballots of 1993 and 1995.” The Democratic Bloc (DB), consisting of 18 opposition members of the National Assembly led by Jabrail Ahmadov, boycotted the parliament from April 17 to June 25, 1999. Local elections were held on December 12, 1999. The COE Parliamentary Assembly sent observers to monitor the local elections. Parliamentary elections were held on November 5, 2000 and January 7, 2001. The OSCE/ODIHR sent observers headed by Charles Magree of the US to monitor the parliamentary elections. The COE Parliamentary Assembly sent 30 observers from 14 countries headed by Andreas Gross of Switzerland to monitor the first round of the parliamentary elections from November 3-7, 2000. Amendments to the constitution – which change the manner in which the president and parliament are elected – were approved by nearly 100 percent of the voters in a referendum held on August 24, 2002. Opposition groups claimed that the results were fraudulent. The COE Parliamentary Assembly sent observers to monitor the referendum, and the CIS IPA sent observers headed by K. A. Markelov of Russia to monitor the referendum. The parliament elected Ilham Aliyev, son of President Heydar Aliyev, as prime minister on August 4, 2003. Prime Minister Ilham Aliyev was elected president with 77 percent of the vote on October 15, 2003. Opposition groups refused to accept the results of the presidential election. The OSCE/ODIHR sent some 530 observers headed by Peter Eicher of the US to monitor the presidential election from September 6 to October 24, 2003. The COE Parliamentary Assembly sent observers to monitor the presidential election. Ilham Aliyev was inaugurated as president on October 31, 2003. Parliamentary elections were held on November 6, 2005, and the New Azerbaijan Party (NAP) won 62 of the 125 seats in the parliament. The OSCE/ODIHR sent 62 observers from 42 countries to monitor the parliamentary elections from September 5 to November 7, 2005. The COE Parliamentary Assembly sent observers on a pre-election mission to Azerbaijan on October 11-13, 2005, and the COE Parliamentary Assembly sent 51 observers headed by Leo Platvoet of the Netherlands to monitor the parliamentary elections on November 4-7, 2005. The NATO Parliamentary Assembly sent 11 observers to monitor the parliamentary elections. The EU Parliament sent 12 observers to monitor the parliamentary elections. The Constitutional Court annulled the results of the parliamentary elections in ten districts (parliamentary elections were re-run in those districts on May 13, 2006). The COE Parliamentary Assembly sent five individuals on a pre-election mission to Azerbaijan on April 27-28, 2006, and the COE Parliamentary Assembly sent 18 observers to monitor the parliamentary elections on May 11-15, 2006. The OSCE/ODIHR sent thirteen observers headed by Geert Ahrens of Germany to monitor the parliamentary elections from April 25 to May 14, 2006. The CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly sent observers to monitor the parliamentary (re-run) elections.
[Sources: Associated Press (AP), August 29, 2002; Banks and Muller, 1998, 62-65; British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), August 4, 2003, October 16, 2003, October 17, 2003, November 7, 2005, November 9, 2005; Council of Europe (COE) press release, October 26, 2000, October 28, 2005, April 28, 2006, May 11, 2006; Keesing’s Record of World Events, June 1993, October 1993, August 1995, October 1998, June 1999; New York Times (NYT), October 17, 2003; Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) newsletter, August 1998; Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Parliamentary Assembly (PA)/Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) press release, December 18, 2000, January 8, 2001, September 11, 2003, November 13, 2003, November 7, 2005, April 25, 2006; OSCE/ODIHR statement, October 12, 1998, November 6, 2000; Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), October 16, 1998, August 24, 2002, August 26, 2002; Reuters, October 8, 1998, October 11, 1998, June 22, 1999, December 13, 1999, August 25, 2002; Washington Post, November 7, 2005.]