Azerbaijan’s elections conducted in a ‘fair and transparent’ way

by Martin Banks

Azerbaijan’s incumbent president Ilham Aliyev was swept back into power with the overwhelming backing of 86% of the electorate in the poll on 11 April. ECR delegation leader and Polish MEP Kosma Zlotowski said: “It is our evaluation that the elections themselves were conducted in accordance with the national legislation. The European Conservatives and Reformists Group (ECR) is the third-largest grouping in the European Parliament.

“Eight candidates ran for the office of president, ensuring a politically diverse and competitive environment.” ECR member David Campbell Bannerman said: “We didn’t see anything that concerned us.” The British MEP also praised the measures used to identify voters and guard against inaccuracies, saying: “I was impressed with the security measures – ID cards, left-thumb prints and the fact that they had to sign after voting. There were no postal or proxy votes like in some European elections, which can pose security problems.”

Asked whether the UK had anything to learn from the system in Azerbaijan, Campbell Bannerman said that this was a two-way learning process but that security methods were “better than in the UK in terms of identifying actual voters”. He also said that the enthusiasm to vote among Azerbaijanis was noticeable.

The ECR group pointed out that some political parties boycotted the elections which the delegation felt had “affected the inclusive nature of the process, as voters were encouraged to refrain from participating”.

Countrywide turnout was around 75% of the more than five million citizens eligible to vote, with Aliyev’s nearest rivals polling around 3% each. The winner will now begin his fourth consecutive term as the nation’s head of state.

Some 800 observers were invited by the Central Election Commission of Azerbaijan. The election took place several months ahead of schedule due to a presidential decree made public on 5 February. The declaration drew criticism from opponents who claimed it gave them little time to prepare for a ballot.

Another group of observers, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Turkic Speaking Countries (TURKPA) and the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States (Turkic Council) said in a joint statement: “The mission did not find any evidence of intervention of administrative or law enforcement authorities in the work at the polling stations.” It added: “All necessary administrative measures were taken to ensure the free will of the people during the voting day.” The statement continued: “We affirm that the election of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan was open, transparent and competitive, and complied with the national legislation of the Republic of Azerbaijan and generally accepted international election standards.”

In recent years the Republic has worked hard to sell its ‘European’ credentials. Despite human-rights concerns, this effort has been largely supported by the EU and has seen the country host various events such as the Eurovision song contest and major European sports tournaments.