Tweet
OBSERVERS SAY AZERBAIJAN VOTE 'SERIOUSLY FLAWED,' OPPOSITION PLANS CHALLENGE
Ilham Aliyev submits his ballot
BAKU-Opponents of Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev said Thursday
they would go to court to challenge his election for a third term,
rejecting the result of a vote that international monitors said was
seriously flawed.
Aliyev, who succeeded his father a decade ago as leader of the
oil-producing nation on the Caspian Sea, won a third five-year term
with nearly 85 percent of the vote in Wednesday's election.
Standing before a national flag on state television, he thanked
Azeris for their support and said he would ensure security in the
South Caucasus, where tensions still simmer with neighboring Armenia
over a disputed territory.
Opposition candidate Jamal Hasanli said he would seek to challenge
the official result in the country's Constitutional Court, alleging
violations including ballot stuffing and multiple voting. "This
election was neither free nor fair," he said.
On Wednesday, the day of the elections, the Washington Post revealed
that the Azeri authorities had inadvertently released predetermined
election results a full day before voting had even begun.
Aliyev, 51, has overseen an economic boom that has raised living
standards in the country, which pumps oil and gas to Europe, bypassing
Russia. He has allowed Washington to use it as a transit point for
sending troops to Afghanistan.
But he has faced criticism at home and abroad over his treatment
of opponents. The media is tightly controlled, protests quashed,
and one rights group said a pre-election crackdown had doubled the
number of political prisoners.
International monitors from the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe, or OSCE, said the vote was marred by a
"restrictive media environment" and allegations of intimidation of
candidates and voters.
"The limitations placed on the fundamental freedoms of assembly,
association and expression; the lack of a level playing field; the
allegations of intimidation, all came in the lead-up to an election
day that our observers found to be seriously flawed," OSCE official
Tana de Zulueta said.
Monitors reported clear indications of ballot stuffing at 37 polling
stations, and said the counting was assessed negatively at an
unprecedented 58 percent of stations observed.
An OSCE news conference degenerated into chaos as journalists from
pro-government media drowned out the observers and shouted "The OSCE
is biased."
Hasanly, 61, a former lawmaker who has united Azerbaijan's fractured
opposition for the first time in a presidential election, told
journalists: "When [officials] announce the final official results of
the election and declare Ilham Aliyev as the president, we will address
the Constitutional Court with a demand to cancel the election results."
A gaping divide between the rich and poor and allegations of
corruption, which Azeris say pervades many aspects of life, has led
to an increase in protests, and the opposition is planning a rally
Saturday.
But few expect sustained protests over a vote whose results many
saw as a foregone conclusion because of Aliyev's tight grip over the
South Caucasus nation of 9 million.
http://asbarez.com/114897/observers-say-azerbaijan-vote-%E2%80%98seriously-flawed%E2%80%99-opposition-plans-challenge/
Ilham Aliyev submits his ballot
BAKU-Opponents of Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev said Thursday
they would go to court to challenge his election for a third term,
rejecting the result of a vote that international monitors said was
seriously flawed.
Aliyev, who succeeded his father a decade ago as leader of the
oil-producing nation on the Caspian Sea, won a third five-year term
with nearly 85 percent of the vote in Wednesday's election.
Standing before a national flag on state television, he thanked
Azeris for their support and said he would ensure security in the
South Caucasus, where tensions still simmer with neighboring Armenia
over a disputed territory.
Opposition candidate Jamal Hasanli said he would seek to challenge
the official result in the country's Constitutional Court, alleging
violations including ballot stuffing and multiple voting. "This
election was neither free nor fair," he said.
On Wednesday, the day of the elections, the Washington Post revealed
that the Azeri authorities had inadvertently released predetermined
election results a full day before voting had even begun.
Aliyev, 51, has overseen an economic boom that has raised living
standards in the country, which pumps oil and gas to Europe, bypassing
Russia. He has allowed Washington to use it as a transit point for
sending troops to Afghanistan.
But he has faced criticism at home and abroad over his treatment
of opponents. The media is tightly controlled, protests quashed,
and one rights group said a pre-election crackdown had doubled the
number of political prisoners.
International monitors from the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe, or OSCE, said the vote was marred by a
"restrictive media environment" and allegations of intimidation of
candidates and voters.
"The limitations placed on the fundamental freedoms of assembly,
association and expression; the lack of a level playing field; the
allegations of intimidation, all came in the lead-up to an election
day that our observers found to be seriously flawed," OSCE official
Tana de Zulueta said.
Monitors reported clear indications of ballot stuffing at 37 polling
stations, and said the counting was assessed negatively at an
unprecedented 58 percent of stations observed.
An OSCE news conference degenerated into chaos as journalists from
pro-government media drowned out the observers and shouted "The OSCE
is biased."
Hasanly, 61, a former lawmaker who has united Azerbaijan's fractured
opposition for the first time in a presidential election, told
journalists: "When [officials] announce the final official results of
the election and declare Ilham Aliyev as the president, we will address
the Constitutional Court with a demand to cancel the election results."
A gaping divide between the rich and poor and allegations of
corruption, which Azeris say pervades many aspects of life, has led
to an increase in protests, and the opposition is planning a rally
Saturday.
But few expect sustained protests over a vote whose results many
saw as a foregone conclusion because of Aliyev's tight grip over the
South Caucasus nation of 9 million.
http://asbarez.com/114897/observers-say-azerbaijan-vote-%E2%80%98seriously-flawed%E2%80%99-opposition-plans-challenge/