Worldwide observers model Azerbaijan vote ‘not aggressive’

BAKU: Azerbaijan’s presidential election, which noticed president Ilham Aliyev safe a fifth time period, lacked political competitors and was marred by severe electoral shortcomings and media restrictions, election observers stated Thursday.
Aliyev was re-elected on Wednesday with 92 p.c of the vote, in a poll held throughout a crackdown on unbiased media and within the absence of any actual opposition.
His win was the anticipated consequence after his nation’s historic victory over Armenian separatists final 12 months.
The election “was not aggressive”, screens from the Group for Safety and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) stated in an announcement launched in Baku.
“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 various,” the screens stated.
The vote “was held in a restrictive setting,” they added, with election day marred by “vital shortcomings”.
Screens famous “problems with secrecy of the vote, an absence of safeguards in opposition to a number of voting, indications of poll stuffing”, elevating “severe questions on whether or not ballots have been counted and reported truthfully”.
The observers additionally stated that “latest arrests of vital journalists have hindered the media from working freely”.
– ‘Imitation of democracy’ –
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan congratulated “pricey brother” Aliyev on Wednesday, even earlier than official election outcomes have been launched.
Throughout a telephone name, the 2 leaders “expressed confidence that… our two nations will proceed advancing shoulder to shoulder, based mostly on the precept ‘one nation, two nations,'” Aliyev’s workplace stated in an announcement.
Ukrainian chief Volodymyr Zelensky despatched Aliyev a congratulatory message, thanking him for “mutual assist of our nations’ sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
Aliyev’s workplace additionally stated Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin “congratulated Ilham Aliyev on his victory within the presidential elections and wished him success in his presidential actions for the event of Azerbaijan and the prosperity of our individuals.”
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban congratulated Aliyev on his “huge and indeniable victory,” saying he’s “wanting ahead to additional strengthening the cooperation between Hungary and Azerbaijan, in addition to Azerbaijan and the EU through the Hungarian EU presidency.”
Aliyev was heralded at residence after his troops in September wrested the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh area from Armenian separatists who had managed it for many years.
However the oil-rich nation’s foremost opposition events boycotted the vote, which one opposition chief, Ali Kerimli of the Well-liked Entrance occasion, known as an “imitation of democracy”.
The six different candidates who have been operating have been little-known and had praised Aliyev as a fantastic statesman and commander-in-chief since he introduced the election in December, a 12 months forward of schedule.
In latest months, Azerbaijani authorities have intensified stress on unbiased media shops, arresting a number of vital journalists.
Aliyev, 62, was first elected president in 2003 after the demise of his father, Heydar Aliyev.
He was returned to workplace in 2008, 2013 and in 2018 in elections opposition events denounced as rigged.