Azerbaijan’s ruling party wins majority, say exit polls

By Jeyhun Aliyev

BAKU, Azerbaijan (AA) - Exit polls have suggested on Sunday that the candidates from the ruling New Azerbaijan Party (YAP) gained the majority of the seats in the parliament.

According to preliminary results, the ruling New Azerbaijan Party (YAP) won 69 seats in the Milli Majlis, or the National Assembly, the U.S. polling firm Arthur J Finkelstein & Associates Inc. announced.

The independent candidates received 41 seats, according to Azerbaijan's Trend news agency.

The agency said the polling company also revealed the results showing that the United Azerbaijan Party won three seats, with the Party for Democratic Reforms, the Great Creation Party, the Popular Front Party of Whole Azerbaijan, and the Azerbaijan Democratic Party winning one seat each.

The surveys were conducted on 1,053 constituencies with the participation of 2,106 people, it added.

Sunday’s election was company's fifth exit poll in Azerbaijan.

The French OpinionWay Research Institute also announced the exit poll results.

Bruno Jeanbart, CEO of the institute, said in a news conference that the exit polls were conducted in 236 polling stations both in the city and rural areas of Azerbaijan.

Jeanbart said that 10,119 people took part in the exit polls, adding that the voter turnout was 55.06%.

He did not provide details on the party-based distribution of votes.

An official statement from the Central Election Commission of Azerbaijan is yet to be announced.

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

Over 5.3 million people were registered to 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.