Election observers from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) have voiced significant doubts regarding the legitimacy of Azerbaijan’s recent presidential election, where incumbent Ilham Aliyev clinched a fifth term with over 90 percent of the vote.
In a news conference held in Baku, the capital, on Thursday, OSCE monitors criticized the election, stating it was neither competitive nor conducted in an open environment. They highlighted the recent arrests of critical journalists as a hindrance to free media operations.
With over 93 percent of the votes counted, Aliyev was reported to have garnered more than 92 percent of the votes, according to Mazahir Panahov, the head of the Central Election Commission. Despite the participation of six other candidates, the monitors noted that none of them effectively challenged Aliyev’s policies, leaving voters without genuine alternatives.
The OSCE raised concerns about the secrecy of the vote, lack of safeguards against multiple voting, and indications of ballot stuffing, questioning the integrity of the ballot counting and reporting process. While acknowledging the efficiency of election preparations, the observers criticized the absence of genuine pluralism and continuous suppression of critical voices.
Aliyev’s tenure has been characterized by the enactment of increasingly stringent laws restricting political discourse and the imprisonment of opposition members and independent journalists. His upcoming hosting of a United Nations climate change conference in November will place him under international scrutiny, particularly as Azerbaijan heavily relies on revenues from fossil fuels.
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“While six other candidates participated in the campaign, none of them convincingly challenged the incumbent president’s policies in their campaigns, leaving voters without any genuine alternative,” the monitors said.
“While preparations for the election were efficient and professional, it lacked genuine pluralism and critical voices were continuously stifled,” the observers said.
‘President for life’
Aliyev, 62, who has been in power for more than 20 years, is now heading into another seven-year term in office.
He was first elected president in 2003 after the death of his father Heydar Aliyev, a former KGB officer who had ruled Azerbaijan since 1993.
He was re-elected in 2008, 2013 and most recently in 2018 with 86 percent of the votes. All the elections were denounced by opposition parties as rigged.
In 2009, Aliyev amended the constitution so he could run for an unlimited number of presidential terms, a move criticised by rights advocates who argued he could become president for life.
He called an early vote just months after his forces swiftly reclaimed the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh enclave from ethnic Armenian separatists who had controlled it for three decades.
Azerbaijani officials have previously said its elections are fair and transparent, and that Aliyev’s popularity has increased since the victory in Karabakh.
Analysts suggested that Aliyev moved the election forward to capitalise on his burst in popularity following the September blitz, which saw more than 100,000 ethnic Armenians fleeing the region.
Aliyev has declared that he wanted the election to “mark the beginning of a new era,” in which Azerbaijan has full control over its territory.
Leaders, including Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan offered congratulations.
