Ilham Aliyev wins anticipated landslide victory, however OSCE displays say vote was ‘restrictive’ and ‘not aggressive’.
Election observers from the Organisation for Safety and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) have raised “critical questions” in regards to the validity of Azerbaijan’s presidential election, which noticed incumbent Ilham Aliyev safe a fifth time period with greater than 90 p.c of the vote.
The election was “not aggressive” and “was held in a restrictive setting”, OSCE displays advised a information convention within the capital, Baku, on Thursday, a day after the ballot. They mentioned that “latest arrests of essential journalists have hindered the media from working freely”.
There was no speedy remark from the federal government.
With greater than 93 p.c of the ballots counted, Aliyev secured greater than 92 p.c of votes, the pinnacle of the Central Election Fee, Mazahir Panahov, mentioned on Thursday.
“Whereas six different candidates participated within the marketing campaign, none of them convincingly challenged the incumbent president’s insurance policies of their campaigns, leaving voters with none real different,” the displays mentioned.
The OSCE famous “problems with secrecy of the vote, an absence of safeguards in opposition to a number of voting, indications of poll stuffing”, elevating “critical questions on whether or not ballots have been counted and reported actually”.
“Whereas preparations for the election have been environment friendly {and professional}, it lacked real pluralism and important voices have been constantly stifled,” the observers mentioned.
Aliyev’s time in energy has been marked by the introduction of more and more strict legal guidelines that curb political debate, in addition to the arrests of opposition figures and independent journalists.
He will probably be within the limelight in November when Azerbaijan, a rustic reliant on revenues from fossil fuels, hosts a United Nations local weather change convention.
‘President for all times’
Aliyev, 62, who has been in energy for greater than 20 years, is now heading into one other seven-year time period in workplace.
He was first elected president in 2003 after the dying of his father Heydar Aliyev, a former KGB officer who had dominated Azerbaijan since 1993.
He was re-elected in 2008, 2013 and most not too long ago in 2018 with 86 p.c of the votes. All of the elections have been denounced by opposition events as rigged.
In 2009, Aliyev amended the structure so he may run for an infinite variety of presidential phrases, a transfer criticised by rights advocates who argued he may grow to be president for all times.
He referred to as an early vote simply months after his forces swiftly reclaimed the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh enclave from ethnic Armenian separatists who had managed it for 3 a long time.
Azerbaijani officers have beforehand mentioned its elections are truthful and clear, and that Aliyev’s reputation has elevated for the reason that victory in Karabakh.
Analysts urged that Aliyev moved the election ahead to capitalise on his burst in reputation following the September blitz, which noticed greater than 100,000 ethnic Armenians fleeing the area.
Aliyev has declared that he wished the election to “mark the start of a brand new period,” during which Azerbaijan has full management over its territory.
Leaders, together with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan provided congratulations.
