On 28 November, the Political Council of the New Azerbaijan Party (NAP) made a decision to recommend that its members in parliament raise an initiative to dissolve parliament, reported apa.az.  

The statement was made by the Deputy Chairman-Executive Secretary of the NAP Ali Ahmadov. He noted that reforms should cover all branches of government in order to achieve the objectives which have been put forward. 

“The NAP members have come to a conclusion that the reforms conducted by President Ilham Aliyev should not overpass the legislative sphere. All members of the Political Council have demonstrated a unanimous position regarding this issue. The renovation of membership [in the[ Azerbaijani Parliament is also necessary for successful implementation of the Presidential reforms concept. According to the last referendum, [the] President has a right to dissolve the Parliament under certain circumstances. And this measure can create prerequisites for more consistent and broader implementation of the reforms concept,” he stated.

He also noted that the members of the Parliament representing the NAP party happily accepted the Political Council’s decision: “The Members of the Parliament have decided to address an appeal to the Parliament regarding this issue, and that appeal will be sent to the Azerbaijani Parliament. I think that [parliamentary] senior officials… will bring up this appeal for discussion at the Parliament in the near future,” he said. 

The NAP parliamentarian Yagub Mahmudov stated that the initiative was put forth by the NAP parliamentarians themselves. “We are a developed reformist country. The reforms are conducted in the areas of economy, policy, state building, etc. At the same time, the measures corresponding to these reforms should be taken in the legislative body as well. Therefore, the NAP party evaluated the present situation and took a democratic measure: by our own initiative and wish, we gave our recommendation regarding the implementation of the early parliamentary election, and we stated our approval for this issue,“ he said.

The Azerbaijani opposition did not respond unequivocally to the ruling party’s initiative. The Musavat party expressed skepticism about the initiative and called for electoral system reform. The Azerbaijan Popular Front believed that the real purpose of the early elections, apparently to take place in winter 2020, would make it more difficult for opposition protests because of weather conditions. It is not yet clear if Musavat and the Popular Front would vote for the initiative or boycott the election. The "Republican Alternative" (REAL) party, headed by the politician Ilgar Mammadov, declared already that she will participate in the early elections. 

The legal norm on the dissolution of parliament was introduced by the Constitution referendum in 2016. According to this norm, if the same convocation of the Milli Majlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan twice during a year expresses no confidence in the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Azerbaijan or fails to appoint the necessary number of candidates for collegial activity of the Constitutional Court, Supreme Court, and the Board of the Central Bank of the Azerbaijan Republic, as well as for fatal reasons, does not fulfil its obligations specified in Articles 94 and 95, parts II, III, IV and V of Article 9 6, article 97 of the Constitution (these norms are connected with the non-fulfilment of legislative functions by the parliament), the head of state dissolves the Milli Majlis.

Given that about 70 (out of 118) mandates in the parliament belong to the New Azerbaijan Party who will resign en masse, the parliament will not be able to fulfil its duties. After that, the President will decide on the dissolution of parliament and the call for early elections. An extraordinary election date must be set at least 60 days before the vote. But taking into account the fact that a certain time is still needed to prepare the elections, they are likely to be scheduled for February-March 2020.