- Title: AZERBAIJAN: Aliyev likely to win rule for life in referendum
- Date: 19th March 2009
- Summary: BAKU, AZERBAIJAN (MARCH 18, 2009) (REUTERS) VIEW OF BAKU/ SKYLINE WOMAN ENTERING POLLING STATION ELECTION OFFICIALS LISTENING TO NATIONAL ANTHEM BEFORE OPENING THE POLLING STATION PHOTOS OF AZERBAIJAN PRESIDENT ILHAM ALIYEV AND HIS FATHER LATE PRESIDENT HEYDAR ALIYEV ON WALL OF POLLING STATION VARIOUS OF VOTERS REGISTERING TO VOTE ELECTION OFFICIAL MARKING FINGER WITH SP
- Embargoed: 3rd April 2009 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Azerbaijan
- Country: Azerbaijan
- Topics: Domestic Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA726Q4LPIUU2GVPPYSEDWA83L
- Story Text: Azerbaijan voted in a referendum on Wednesday (March 18) that will almost certainly hand President Ilham Aliyev the chance to rule the oil-producing former Soviet republic for life, despite opposition calls for a boycott.
The Aliyevs have dominated the tightly controlled mainly Muslim state for decades, first under the late Heydar Aliyev as Communist leader and president, then under his son Ilham since 2003.
The ruling Yeni (New) Azerbaijan Party wants to lift the country's two-term presidential limit so 47-year-old Aliyev can keep running for election after his second termin 2013.
Aliyev has presided over an economic boom fuelled by oil pumped to Europe from the Caspian Sea in a region where the West and Russia are vying for influence over huge energy reserves.
Reflecting its location at a strategic crossroads between East and West, Aliyev has sought to balance the country's political and energy policies between Moscow and Western powers.
The country is pivotal to Europe's hopes of reducing its energy dependence on Russia, a fact the opposition says has diluted Western criticism of Azeri democracy.
Rights groups say Aliyev's grip on power owes less to economic growth and more to strict curbs on democracy and to the personality cult built around his father, whose portrait and name adorn sidewalks and buildings across Azerbaijan.
"Democratic conditions have not been violated, we have right to choose who we like as our president, but why should we deprive the President of the right to more than two terms," said electoral official Nariman Mavsumov, before casting his ballot.
The opposition in the country of 8.7 million people has urged voters to stay at home. Aliyev voted with his family, but did not speak to reporters.
Polling stations opened to the national anthem, and authorities put turnout at
7 percent by 10 a.m. (0600 GMT).
The constitutional amendment looks certain to pass after Aliyev claimed 89 percent of the vote in a presidential election six months ago that was also boycotted by the opposition and deemed less than democratic by European monitors.
Some analysts say the authorities want to shore up Aliyev's rule against the uncertain impact of the global economic crisis, with depressed oil prices likely to rein in spending plans and test the currency. Rampant corruption limits how much oil revenue makes it beyond Baku to poorer towns and villages.
The ruling party has dismissed opposition warnings that the country is staring authoritarianism in the face. The authorities say they are committed to international standards of democracy but that the country needs to be protected from forces they say are trying to sow instability.
The referendum contains 29 amendments, including some the opposition says could further compromise media freedoms. They also provide for the extension of parliamentary and presidential mandates in case of military operations under a state of war.
Critics warn the clause lacks precision, having in mind the festering conflict over the territorially disputed mountainous region of Nagorno-Karabakh, where a peace accord has never been signed and skirmishes are common.
Polls close at 7.00 p.m. (1500 GMT) and first official results are expected several hours later. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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