[ad_1]
BAKU: Azerbaijan’s presidential election, which noticed president Ilham Aliyev safe a fifth time period, lacked political competitors and was marred by critical electoral shortcomings and media restrictions, election observers mentioned Thursday.
Aliyev was re-elected on Wednesday with 92 % of the vote, in a poll held throughout a crackdown on impartial 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 yr.
The election “was not aggressive”, screens from the Group for Safety and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) mentioned in a press release 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 different,” the screens mentioned.
The vote “was held in a restrictive surroundings,” they added, with election day marred by “important shortcomings”.
Displays famous “problems with secrecy of the vote, a scarcity of safeguards towards a number of voting, indications of poll stuffing”, elevating “critical questions on whether or not ballots have been counted and reported actually”.
The observers additionally mentioned that “current arrests of essential 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 cellphone name, the 2 leaders “expressed confidence that… our two international locations will proceed advancing shoulder to shoulder, based mostly on the precept ‘one nation, two international locations,'” Aliyev’s workplace mentioned in a press release.
Ukrainian chief Volodymyr Zelensky despatched Aliyev a congratulatory message, thanking him for “mutual help of our international locations’ sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
Aliyev’s workplace additionally mentioned 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 “trying ahead to additional strengthening the cooperation between Hungary and Azerbaijan, in addition to Azerbaijan and the EU throughout the Hungarian EU presidency.”
Aliyev was heralded at house 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 major opposition events boycotted the vote, which one opposition chief, Ali Kerimli of the Fashionable Entrance occasion, referred to as an “imitation of democracy”.
The six different candidates who have been operating have been little-known and had praised Aliyev as an excellent statesman and commander-in-chief since he introduced the election in December, a yr forward of schedule.
In current months, Azerbaijani authorities have intensified stress on impartial media retailers, arresting a number of essential 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.
Aliyev was re-elected on Wednesday with 92 % of the vote, in a poll held throughout a crackdown on impartial 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 yr.
The election “was not aggressive”, screens from the Group for Safety and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) mentioned in a press release 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 different,” the screens mentioned.
The vote “was held in a restrictive surroundings,” they added, with election day marred by “important shortcomings”.
Displays famous “problems with secrecy of the vote, a scarcity of safeguards towards a number of voting, indications of poll stuffing”, elevating “critical questions on whether or not ballots have been counted and reported actually”.
The observers additionally mentioned that “current arrests of essential 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 cellphone name, the 2 leaders “expressed confidence that… our two international locations will proceed advancing shoulder to shoulder, based mostly on the precept ‘one nation, two international locations,'” Aliyev’s workplace mentioned in a press release.
Ukrainian chief Volodymyr Zelensky despatched Aliyev a congratulatory message, thanking him for “mutual help of our international locations’ sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
Aliyev’s workplace additionally mentioned 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 “trying ahead to additional strengthening the cooperation between Hungary and Azerbaijan, in addition to Azerbaijan and the EU throughout the Hungarian EU presidency.”
Aliyev was heralded at house 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 major opposition events boycotted the vote, which one opposition chief, Ali Kerimli of the Fashionable Entrance occasion, referred to as an “imitation of democracy”.
The six different candidates who have been operating have been little-known and had praised Aliyev as an excellent statesman and commander-in-chief since he introduced the election in December, a yr forward of schedule.
In current months, Azerbaijani authorities have intensified stress on impartial media retailers, arresting a number of essential 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.
[ad_2]
Source_link