Ruling party claims victory in Azerbaijan election
BAKU, Nov 6: Azerbaijan’s ruling party claimed victory in Sunday’s parliamentary election but was immediately accused of widespread fraud by the opposition which said it would hit the streets in protest.
Asked if his ruling Yeni Azerbaijan party would achieve its target of retaining its 75 seats in the 125-seat parliament, Executive Secretary Ali Ahmedov told reporters: “Our information is that, yes, at the very least we have achieved that target.”
Western governments, their focus on ex-Soviet state’s oil, are nervous the poll could be marred by fraud and violence.
But analysts say there is unlikely to be a repeat of the popular revolts that followed disputed polls in fellow ex-Soviet states Ukraine and Georgia.
Violence remained a threat, with officials saying radical elements in the opposition might try to provoke police and warning any illegal protests would be stamped out.
“The campaign was successful. Equal conditions were created for all candidates,” President Ilham Aliyev said as he voted.
Azerbaijan is in a South Caucasus region crisscrossed with smouldering separatist conflicts. Western governments are anxious for stability, especially with a pipeline expected to begin delivering oil to world markets from next year.
Aliyev — who succeeded his father as head of state — runs a country of 8 million Muslims wedged between Russia and Iran. Corruption is endemic and the country has yet to hold an election judged free and fair by the West.
For the first time, election officials sprayed indelible ink on voters’ thumbs to stop them voting twice. It was part of a package of anti-fraud measures adopted days before the vote.
The latest official figures showed that by 5pm 40 per cent of the electorate had voted. Polls closed at 7pm and first results are expected early on Monday.
Ahmedov dismissed opposition complaints of fraud. “The election has shown international organisations that Azerbaijan has deep democratic traditions,” he said.
“There were some violations ... (But) this small number of violations will not affect the overall outcome of the election.”—Reuters
