Azerbaijan: Polls closed in snap parliamentary election

By Jeyhun Aliyev

BAKU (AA) - The voting in the snap parliamentary election has ended in Azerbaijan.

The polls closed at 7 p.m. local time (1500GMT).

The candidates were running for parliamentary seats in the 125-seat Milli Majlis, or the National Assembly of the country.

A total of 1,314 candidates, with the majority not belonging to any political party, joined the race. Among them were almost 300 women.

Mazahir Panahpv, head of the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Azerbaijan, is expected to hold a news conference on the voting at 9 p.m. local time (1700GMT).

Over 5.3 million registered voters cast votes to choose the deputies.

More than 130 international media outlets from 47 countries covered the snap election, and over 77,000 local and 883 foreign observers were accredited to monitor the polls.

It was Azerbaijan’s sixth parliamentary polls since the country regained its independence in 1991 after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Before the snap election decision, a parliamentary election had been scheduled for this November.