On October 15, 2008, Azerbaijan held its fifth presidential election since declaring independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. This year’s presidential election was held under a newly amended election code.

The international community, which has been critical of past elections in Azerbaijan, was hoping to see some improvements in this election with an eye toward municipal elections in 2009 and elections to the 125-member Milli Majlis in 2010. The International Election Observation Mission’s (IEOM) preliminary report on the election, consisting of observers from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the OSCE Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the European Parliament, found “considerable progress toward meeting OSCE and Council of Europe commitments and other international standards but did not meet all commitments.” Among the positive elements of the election cited in the report were recent amendments to the election code.

IFES and the Venice Commission along with OSCE/ODIHR worked with the Presidential Apparat and Central Election Commission on the amendment process. Civil society organizations and political parties were invited to take part in key aspects of the amendment process at the invitation of IFES, its international partners, and Azerbaijani officials. As noted in the IEOM report mentioned above, the process resulted in some positive changes to the legal framework for elections, although the final product enacted by the Milli Majlis (parliament) on June 2, 2008, included provisions seen by some critics as problematic.