Almost 80% of Azerbaijani voters believe that their nation is heading in the right direction under the present leadership and that the unresolved Nagorno-Karabakh conflict remains the defining issue. The US polling firm Arthur J. Finkelstein & Associates published the results of a pre-election poll.
Asked “in general, how would you rate the job done by the current President Ilham Aliyev?”, 82.1% said either good or excellent. 77.1% of voters said the country is going in the right direction, while 14.7% said it is not.
41.3% of voters chose Nagorno-Karabakh as one of the most important issues. "Five times more respondents named Nagorno-Karabakh as the most important issue facing the nation than the economy," the Executive Director of Arthur J. Finkelstein & Associates, George Birnbaum, said, adding that it remains a highly emotive issue that pervades all aspects of politics and government.
81.7% of respondents agreed that "Azerbaijan is an island of stability in a region where most countries are unstable" and 71% believe the present government is well-placed to prevent the immigration crisis from spilling into Azerbaijan.
More than 80% believe the country's leadership has protected the nation against acts of terror. 74.4% of voters chose the New Azerbaijan Party candidates. This means that in the vast majority of constituencies, the New Azerbaijan Party candidates are expected to win, the report said.
"The voters want political and economic stability, they want to be kept safe from terror, and they want their elected representatives to keep fighting for the return of Nagorno-Karabakh, Birnbaum said.
The poll, of 1000 registered voters, was conducted in 108 constituencies around Azerbaijan between September 28 and October 9.
