Shusha, February 2, AZERTAC

“The main purpose of the sociological survey conducted in Azerbaijan is to study the population’s preparedness for voting ahead of the presidential election, the level of their involvement in the country’s political life, as well as the public opinion regarding the election,” representative of Oracle Advisory Group George Birnbaum said at a press conference held in Shusha today.

He noted that the questionnaire comprises several categories such as "The level of public awareness regarding the presidential election", "Attitude towards the current state of the country", "The level of political activity of the population", "Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict", and "Support for the Patriotic war".

Addressing the press conference George Birnbaum said: “In response to the question, "Have you participated in the presidential election in Azerbaijan before?" 34.9 percent answered "Almost always", while another 28.4% replied "Always", and 11.1% came back with "A majority of the time ". This is an indicator of the active electoral engagement of the population.

Of those responding to the question, "What is the most important problem Azerbaijan is currently facing at the moment?", addressed to assess the level of public awareness of the population about the presidential election, 2.3 percent mentioned the economic situation, while 34.9 percent the employment, 27.1 percent salaries, while 0.4 percent highlighted Azerbaijan's role in the international arena, 0.1 percent pointed to crime, 14.1 percent to corruption, 6.7 percent noted education, 0.2 percent ecology, 13.1 percent health, and 1.1 percent the domestic violence.

Voters expressed confidence in the country’s development “in the right direction” and the President’s successful activity.

In response to the question, "How do you assess the overall direction Azerbaijan is heading?", 81.2 percent of the voters replied "the right direction", while 12.3 percent responded "the wrong direction".

When asked, "How would you assess the work done by President Ilham Aliyev?" 96 of voters responded "excellent", while 2.5 percent indicated "good", and 0.8% "satisfactory".

Moreover, the voters recognize Azerbaijan a safe country to live in. Thus, 85.4 percent of respondents replied "Yes" to the question, "Do you agree that Azerbaijan, unlike other countries, is the most stable country in the region?"

In response to the question, “If the presidential election was scheduled for today and the following persons were candidates, who would you vote for?" the vast majority of respondents expressed satisfaction with the activities of the current head of the state. Thus, 97 percent of the respondents named Ilham Aliyev, while 1.2 percent mentioned Zahid Oruj, 0.7 percent Fazil Mustafa, 0.5 percent Razi Nurullayev, 0.3 percent Gudrat Hasanguliyev, 0.2 percent Fuad Aliyev, and 0.1 percent Elshad Musayev.

Finally, the public regards the triumph in Karabakh as a significant achievement of Azerbaijan. 98.50 percent of the respondents, replying to the question, "Did you support the large-scale military operations conducted to restore the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan?" replied positively, demonstrating a strong national spirit.

In response to the question, "How, in your opinion, the restoration of Azerbaijan's territorial integrity affected the country's authority in the international arena?" the majority of respondents 72.5 percent replied "positively", while 2.6 percent "negatively", and 24.9 percent "neutrally".

All the responses reflect the population's attitude towards the current government’s activities. Thus, the given responses demonstrate the confidence and support of the population for the current government.

The responses to the question regarding President Ilham Aliyev, included in this section, allow to form a final opinion about the voters' political preferences and the results of the voting.

Thus, based on the results of the pre-election survey aimed at studying the public opinion on President Ilham Aliyev’s activities, it can be concluded that the population believes in Ilham Aliyev’s leadership and supports his political line.

The US-based "Oracle Advisory Group" and the Citizens' Labour Rights Protection League consider that the population is well informed about the presidential election scheduled for February 7. This indicates the high level of awareness-raising efforts carried out by the state."