Close to 38,000 candidates contested 21,622 seats in 2,732 local governance bodies. Major opposition parties, such as the Musavat, Democratic and Popular Front parties boycotted the race and withdraw the names of their registered candidates from the ballots, citing numerous problems with the electoral process in the country. Specifically, they noted the biased work of election commissions, where the majority of members come from the ruling party YAP, and various administrative obstacles during the registration of the candidates. “In an environment where we can not freely conduct an election campaign and the registration of our candidates is hindered, there is no other option for us but to boycott these elections,” said Hasan Karimov, the Popular Front party’s secretary for organizational issues. No opposition rallies have been allowed in the country since violence broke out in the opposition demonstrations following the October 2003 presidential elections.

The representatives of the Central Election Commission and YAP refuted these accusations, saying that the boycott is a good excuse for the opposition parties, which have been unable to gather significant public support to seriously contests the race. CEC stated that only 1231 persons were denied registration for various reasons.

Indeed, the opposition parties in the country continue finding themselves in a weakened position after their defeat in the October 2003 presidential elections. The National Independence party and a number of small opposition parties, such as Civil Solidarity and Adalat (Justice) parties nevertheless participated.

Meanwhile, international and local observers who monitored the municipal elections noted a number of irregularities in the electoral process. “Many of these irregularities were serious and could have affected the outcome in the municipalities concerned. These included observed cases of ballot stuffing, protocol falsification, voter list tampering and voters being pressured. Less serious but common irregularities included multiple voting, pre-marking and clipping of ballots, and the acceptance of inadmissible identification documents” read the statement of the OSCE following the elections. The U.S. embassy in Baku also assessed the election process negatively.

Local observers from the Election Monitoring Center, a coalition of NGOs, also witnessed many irregularities during the voting and tabulation processes. The National Independence, Adalat and Civil Solidarity parties refused to recognize the legitimacy of the elections.

At the same time, international organizations noted the good organization of the polling stations and safe conditions for the voters. “Observers reported that the process was conducted in a friendly and calm atmosphere,” said the OSCE report. The Central Election Commission has also noted irregularities in a number of polling stations. The results of the elections were cancelled in more than 300 precincts and more than a dozen precinct election commissions were dismantled for their poor performance.

Overall, the municipal elections showed a complete distrust on the part of voters for these newly established institutions. Since their foundation in 1999, municipalities failed to turn into independent self-governing bodies, caring for the needs and problems of local residents. Instead, municipalities fell into dependence on the local executive powers and limited their activity to minor construction works and charity activities. The majority of Azerbaijan still remains unaware of the functions of municipalities.

International organizations including the Council of Europe, have already suggested the Azerbaijani government to amend the law on the status of the municipalities and allow them broader powers at the local level. The suggestion is yet to be considered.