Azerbaijan The Presidential Election of 1992
Abulfaz Elchibey, first elected president of Azerbaijan,
1992
Courtesy S. Rasimindir, Azerbaijan International
The presidential election of June 1992 was the first in more
than seventy years not held under communist control. Five
candidates were on the ballot, seeking election to a five-year
term. The election featured the unprecedented use of television,
posters, and other media by multiple candidates to communicate
platforms and solicit votes. The candidates included APF leader
Elchibey, former parliament speaker Yakub Mamedov, Movement for
Democratic Reforms leader and Minister of Justice Ilias Ismailov,
National Democratic Group leader Rafik Abdullayev, and Union of
Democratic Intelligentsia candidate Nizami Suleimanov. Two other
candidates, from the NIP and the APF, withdrew from the race
during the campaign. To register, each candidate had to collect
at least 20,000 signatures and present them to the Central
Electoral Commission. Aliyev was unable to run because of a
constitutional provision barring candidates over sixty-five years
of age. The government agreed to allow international observers to
monitor the election. Etibar Mamedov, Elchibey's main rival in
the polls, dropped out of the race a few days before the
election, calling for rule by a coalition government and the
postponement of balloting until Azerbaijan's state of war with
Armenia ended.
Elchibey's election as president signaled a break in
communist party dominance of Azerbaijani politics. He received
59.4 percent of more than 3.3 million votes cast. The runner-up,
Suleimanov, made a surprise showing of 33 percent of the vote by
promising Azerbaijanis instant wealth and victory in NagornoKarabakh . No other candidate garnered as much as 5 percent of the
vote.
Elchibey had been a student of Arabic philology, a
translator, and a college instructor. In 1975 the KGB imprisoned
him for two years for anti-Soviet activities. In a postelection
address to the nation, he announced a stabilization phase based
on the transfer of power to his democratic faction. When that
phase ended in 1993, constitutional, economic, and cultural
reforms would be implemented, according to this plan. His top
domestic policy priorities--creation of a national army and a
national currency backed by gold reserves--were seen as necessary
elements for national sovereignty. Despite the new president's
intentions, the war in Nagorno-Karabakh dominated politics, and
Elchibey and his party steadily lost influence and popular appeal
because of continual military losses, a worsening economy,
political stalemate, and government corruption.
Data as of March 1994
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