Ilham Aliyev wins fourth term as Azerbaijan president: Official results

Azerbaijan’s presidential candidate and incumbent president Ilham Aliyev casts his ballot at a polling station during the country’s presidential election in Baku on April 11, 2018. (Photo by AP)

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has been re-elected for a fourth term, the official results of the Wednesday election show.

Final results of the election released Thursday by the Central Election Commission showed that Aliyev had won with 86 percent of the vote, well ahead of seven other candidates in the race for office.

The commission has put the turnout at 74.5 percent.

The crushing victory comes amid allegations of vote-rigging by main opposition parties. The opposition Republican Alternative Movement, one of the main parties that had boycotted the election, has denounced the vote as a sham to have Aliyev re-elected.

“All previous elections in Azerbaijan were falsified and held with blatant violations of the electoral law. These elections will be no exception,” said Natig Jafarli, who serves as the party’s executive secretary, ahead of the vote.

The opposition was also angry about a decision by Aliyev’s administration to hold the election six months ahead of schedule. They said the decision, which they called surprise and unexplained, was meant to shorten the campaign period and hamper efforts to stop vote-rigging.

Authorities rejected the criticism and said the vote was completely free and fair.

“All the candidates enjoy equal rights and opportunities,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Hikmet Hajiyev said Thursday, adding, “Azerbaijan is on a firm and irreversible path of democratic development. A free, open and transparent environment has been created in Azerbaijan for the presidential elections.”

An Azeri woman casts her ballot at a polling station during the presidential elections in Baku, Azerbaijan, on April 11, 2018. (Photo by AP)

Aliyev, 56, who has ruled Azerbaijan for the past 15 years, faced similar allegations of vote-rigging in elections in 2008 and 2013.

He thanked Azerbaijanis on Wednesday for their “support and trust” and said the massive vote for him showed people were satisfied with the performance of his administration.

“Citizens of Azerbaijan have voted for security and progress,” said Aliyev in a televised address.

Azerbaijan vote marred by ‘serious irregularities’

Meanwhile, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said on Thursday that Aliyev’s landslide victory for a fourth term was marred by “serious irregularities” and a lack of real competition, after its observers monitored the vote.

“International observers reported widespread disregard for mandatory procedures, lack of transparency, and numerous serious irregularities, such as ballot box stuffing,” the OSCE said in a report.

It added that the polls “took place within a restrictive political environment” and “lacked genuine competition,” with opposition candidates refraining from challenging or criticizing the incumbent.

Aliyev first came to power in 2003, when his father, Heydar, died after 10 years in office.

Over the years, Aliyev has faced massive criticism for lack of tolerance for dissent.

However, he has managed to consolidate his rule with the steady influx of petrodollars into his administration’s coffers.

His administration has always denied allegations of rights abuses and corruption.