On September 1, Azerbaijan is  holding its early parliamentary elections. Vafa Nagi, a women’s rights activist,  is an independent candidate to run in the election. On her social media page, Vafa Nagi expressed that she doesn’t believe in victory in the election.

“I hear you all saying, ‘Oh well, what election? You’re right! The election institution has effectively been abolished in the country, and the Central Election Commission has turned into a branch of the ruling party. I think the most important issue for us now is to expose the fraud that will occur on election day and to fight against authoritarianism as much as we can,” Vafa Nagi wrote on her Facebook page. 

Vafa Nagi began her active political career by being elected as a member of the municipality in the village of Kholqaraqashlı in the Neftchala district of Azerbaijan during the 2019 municipal elections. For many years, the Azerbaijani opposition has boycotted elections in protest of their complete falsification. However, in 2019, civil society actively participated in the municipal elections, and evidence from the media and independent observers revealed serious fraud. In Kholqaraqashlı, where Vafa Nagi ran, she managed to prevent electoral fraud and was elected as a municipality member. Following her election, the former head of the village municipality launched a gender-based smear campaign against her.

“The municipality head used photos of me taken during my vacation to threaten me. I had posted the photos on Instagram but later deleted them. Those pictures were then posted around the village in an attempt to disgrace me. Immorality isn’t about clothing; it’s about taking bribes,” Vafa Nagi says.

Nagi explained that Neftchala is a conservative district, and the campaigns against her were rooted in gender-based bullying. 

“If I were a man, they wouldn’t have used pictures of me wearing shorts to threaten me. But because I am a woman, they did. However, it wasn’t effective. They wanted to drive me out of the village by accusing me of immorality. The villagers didn’t participate in his schemes.”

Vafa Nagi noted that the former village municipality head had been engaging in illegal activities for years. After she exposed these, the attitude towards her worsened. However, when they couldn’t tarnish her reputation, the former municipality head was forced to resign.

Vafa Nagi noted that the people of Neftchala are hopeless. They are convinced that their votes will be stolen and that the election results won’t change. The political activist said that the election institution in Azerbaijan continues to deteriorate. Elections are merely a formality, and the public has no trust in either the elections or the candidates. In such a situation, she believes her role is to prevent the complete demise of the democratic election institution.

“I’m participating because maybe someone will see and say, ‘If Vafa is doing it, I should participate too.’ Maybe someone will decide to be an observer. All of this creates political activity. At the very least, we can prevent the election from being easily falsified,” Vafa Nagi said.

“After finishing university, I didn’t plan to return to the village. But our home is there, and my family lives in Neftchala. As I went back and forth to the village, I saw the hopelessness of the women. I decided that I should return and help them,” Vafa Nagi said.

In 2019, she established a sewing workshop, a project to provide employment for women in Neftchala. However, the small business went bankrupt during the COVID-19 pandemic. Vafa believes that women in the regions are both uneducated and unemployed. They generally don’t know their rights and don’t demand them. Women’s rights are the last thing on their minds because they are very poor, and men work to prevent their families from starving. Women only seek to meet their basic needs.

“When I went to homes for signatures, women would ask their husbands for permission just to sign. Women say that whatever the man says, goes. In society, women must first be liberated; only then can we talk about political participation. The only solution is for women to work and earn their own money. A woman without money cannot demand her rights.”