The Associated Press
October 12, 2013 Saturday 04:23 PM GMT
Thousands protest elections in Azerbaijan
BAKU, Azerbaijan
Thousands gathered in the capital of Azerbaijan on Saturday to protest
the re-election of President Ilham Aliyev in a vote widely criticized
by international election monitors.
The protesters in Baku demanded that the election be nullified and
that Aliyev resign. Aliyev succeeded his father to the presidency of
this small oil-rich nation in 2003, extending decades of dynastic
rule.
Leading the march was Jamil Hasanli, the historian who ran as the main
opposition candidate but snagged less than 6 percent of the vote to
Aliyev’s 85 percent.
Police estimated that there were 1,500 at the rally, whereas the
opposition put the number between 8,000 and 10,000. The protest was
significantly smaller than in previous presidential elections in 2003
and 2008, when at least three to four times as many people gathered to
contest the results.
Monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
called the Wednesday vote flawed. The day before, the Central Election
Commission released the results of the vote on a smartphone app,
showing Aliyev comfortably in the lead.
“This government must go and it will go,” said Hasanli. He criticized
Azerbaijani election officials, saying “they will all receive their
punishment.”
Booming oil prices and a growing economy have allowed Aliyev to cement
his control over the country, particularly after the tumultuous
collapse of the Soviet Union, when Azerbaijan plunged into war with
neighboring Armenia.
Years of relentless government crackdowns and bitter infighting has
also weakened the opposition, which found it hard to mount a challenge
to Aliyev in the latest vote.
Hasanli was forwarded as a candidate at the last minute after the
opposition’s first choice was unable to register because he had
Russian citizenship, and many observers said his campaign was poorly
planned and lacked energy.