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Azerbaijan Aliyev: Opponent Hasanli wants vote annulled
10 October 2013 Last updated at 10:39 GMT
Ilham Aliyev has been president of Azerbaijan since 2003
The main opposition candidate in Azerbaijan has called for the results
of Wednesday's presidential election to be cancelled over alleged
vote-rigging.
Ilham Aliyev officially won re-election for a third term, with
official results giving him more than 80% of the vote.
Jamil Hasanli said the election was not free and fair because of
electoral fraud and government control of all television channels.
European observers found the election had been "seriously flawed".
The election was "undermined by limitations on the freedoms of
expression, assembly and association that did not guarantee a level
playing field for candidates", the Organization for Security and
Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) said in a press release.
OSCE observers reported "clear indications of ballot box stuffing" in
37 polling stations and took a negative view of counting at 58% of the
polling stations they inspected.
Crackdown
According to the latest results available, Mr Aliyev won 85% of the
vote to 5% for Mr Hasanli.
The Aliyev family has ruled the energy-rich ex-Soviet state for two decades.
Jamil Hasanli was the main opposition candidate
Human rights groups say the government cracked down on its critics in
an unprecedented campaign of repression in the run-up to the vote.
Mr Aliyev, who enjoys immense power after inheriting the presidency
from his father in 2003, abolished a two-term presidential limit in a
controversial referendum in 2009.
But political opposition in the country of nine million has also been
blunted by prosperity, with oil wealth more than tripling gross
domestic product.
The president has courted Western states attracted by its strategic
location and status as a producer and transporter of oil and gas.
Oil multinationals BP, ExxonMobil and other Western companies have
invested billions of dollars to tap into Azerbaijan's oil riches.
An oil pipeline supported by the US and the European Union to pump
Azerbaijani crude oil via Georgia to Turkey - bypassing Russia - went
into operation in 2005.
The pipeline is seen as an important part of the West's aim of
reducing Europe's dependence on Russian energy resources.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24474753
From: A. Papazian
10 October 2013 Last updated at 10:39 GMT
Ilham Aliyev has been president of Azerbaijan since 2003
The main opposition candidate in Azerbaijan has called for the results
of Wednesday's presidential election to be cancelled over alleged
vote-rigging.
Ilham Aliyev officially won re-election for a third term, with
official results giving him more than 80% of the vote.
Jamil Hasanli said the election was not free and fair because of
electoral fraud and government control of all television channels.
European observers found the election had been "seriously flawed".
The election was "undermined by limitations on the freedoms of
expression, assembly and association that did not guarantee a level
playing field for candidates", the Organization for Security and
Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) said in a press release.
OSCE observers reported "clear indications of ballot box stuffing" in
37 polling stations and took a negative view of counting at 58% of the
polling stations they inspected.
Crackdown
According to the latest results available, Mr Aliyev won 85% of the
vote to 5% for Mr Hasanli.
The Aliyev family has ruled the energy-rich ex-Soviet state for two decades.
Jamil Hasanli was the main opposition candidate
Human rights groups say the government cracked down on its critics in
an unprecedented campaign of repression in the run-up to the vote.
Mr Aliyev, who enjoys immense power after inheriting the presidency
from his father in 2003, abolished a two-term presidential limit in a
controversial referendum in 2009.
But political opposition in the country of nine million has also been
blunted by prosperity, with oil wealth more than tripling gross
domestic product.
The president has courted Western states attracted by its strategic
location and status as a producer and transporter of oil and gas.
Oil multinationals BP, ExxonMobil and other Western companies have
invested billions of dollars to tap into Azerbaijan's oil riches.
An oil pipeline supported by the US and the European Union to pump
Azerbaijani crude oil via Georgia to Turkey - bypassing Russia - went
into operation in 2005.
The pipeline is seen as an important part of the West's aim of
reducing Europe's dependence on Russian energy resources.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24474753
From: A. Papazian