Forecast: The message of society to the authorities of February 9  marks difficult times in Azerbaijan

ArmInfo. Unlike all the previous parliamentary elections, the extraordinary parliamentary elections held on February 9 in Azerbaijan aroused great enthusiasm  in society.  A similar opinion was expressed by ArmInfo, head of the  Department of Conflictology and Migration, Institute of Peace and  Democracy (Netherlands), political scientist Arif Yunusov.

"Azerbaijanis are tired of the rotten, corrupt and hypocritical  ruling New Azerbaijan Party, thoroughly hoping and striving for  change, hoping that the new politicians will make some changes in  their lives.  These expectations were especially clearly visible  during the meeting of candidates with voters regions.  There are a  lot of publications on social networks videos of expelling  pro-government candidates from these meetings, "he said.

Meanwhile, the opposition, according to Yunusov, did not experience  any special illusions in connection with the elections. And the two  main opposition parties: the National Council of Democratic Forces of  Azerbaijan and the Musavat Party decided in early December not to  participate in the elections. As a justification for his decision,  the NSDS pointed to the accountability of the election commissions of  power, the lack of free media, a ban on freedom of assembly, and the  presence of more than 100 political prisoners in the country.

However, Musavat and the Republican Alternative party nevertheless  went to the polls, according to his estimates, from the pragmatic  reckoning on getting at least several seats in the parliament,  traditionally left by the "constructive opposition" authorities.  According to Yunusov's estimates, based on preliminary data from the  CEC, according to which the ruling party already has 69 out of 125  seats, it's already clear that the alignment of forces in the  parliament will hardly change. And the remaining mandates will be  distributed between the "constructive opposition" and the so-called.  "non-partisan candidates" in reality playing the game of the ruling  party.  The preservation of power in the parliament for the Aliyevs,  according to the political scientist, became possible as a result of  massive falsifications and lawlessness, stuffing of ballots,  roundabouts, and obstruction of the work of observers. Yunusov noted  that all these phenomena have always been present in the elections in  Azerbaijan, but their mass character and cynicism in the February 9  elections were a shock even for Azerbaijanis accustomed to constant  falsifications. And on February 10, the "constructive opposition":  the Musavat, REAL and Umid parties demanded the cancellation of the  election results, resulting in massive fraud.

"And of course, the result of these elections was another  disappointment of citizens who believed in the election promises of  the authorities about changes and reforms. There will be no changes  and reforms, and odious officials and deputies in the ruling elite  will be replaced by new ones who will soon become equally odious.  With all this On February 9, Azerbaijanis sent a clear message to the  authorities. The society is eager for change, its former life and  order are no longer satisfied with it. This means one thing -  Azerbaijan is facing difficult times, "Yunusov summed up.