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In Azerbaijan, the pro-government monitoring center "Ray" conducted a survey among the residents of Baku. According to the results of the survey, if the presidential elections are held this Sunday, 83% of respondents would vote for the current president, Ilham Aliyev, 82% gave a positive answer to the question "whether Ilham Aliyev meets their requirements?", while 65% do not see any alternative to Aliyev's presidency.

Azerbaijani newspaper "Azadlig" argues that these fake surveys are aimed at raising Ilham Aliyev’s rating artificially.

"Azadlig" writes that such surveys in a recession of faith towards elections among the people are assessed as a traditional propaganda of the government, otherwise it is not clear why such a survey is carried out 4 years ahead the presidential elections.
According to the author, the West has repeatedly emphasized the presence of the authoritarian regime in Azerbaijan, and perhaps the government is trying to create a rating through false methods to avoid the strengthening of such ideas among the population. Another reason probably lies in the recent speeches of the head of the Presidential Administration Ramiz Mehdiyev, as a result of which it became clear that the situation in the country is deplorable in all spheres. We can assume that the survey was conducted to show that there is no alternative to Ilham Aliyev in any case.

"Azadlig" also says that the results of the survey are not trustable, because if Aliyev’s rating was really that high, there would be no necessity for electoral frauds and the arrests of political activists. "If Ilham Aliyev had no problems with the rating, the headquarters of the opposition party would not be blown up, no bans would be applied in relation to the oppositionist leaders and there would not be organized campaigns against him in the media. The real rating of this government is known both inside and outside the country," the newspaper reads.