AZERBAIJAN/FILE: Azerbaijan ready for presidential elections expecting incumbent Aliyev to win his third mandate

Record ID: 218323

  • Title: AZERBAIJAN/FILE: Azerbaijan ready for presidential elections expecting incumbent Aliyev to win his third mandate
  • Date: 7th October 2013
  • Summary: BAKU AZERBAIJAN (OCTOBER 6, 2013) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Azerbaijani) OPPOSITION NATIONAL COUNCIL OF DEMOCRATIC FORCES (NSDS) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE JAMIL HASANLY, SAYING: "We will win a lot of votes during these (presidential) elections. If we had been talking about elections where we should win by the number of votes, we will be the winners. But the problem is we have t
  • Embargoed: 22nd October 2013 13:00
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  • Location: Azerbaijan
  • Country: Azerbaijan
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAB8MRQS38YU5UHXV6XP4LX4XK0
  • Story Text: Azerbaijan holds a presidential election on Wednesday (October 9) that looks certain to give President Ilham Aliyev another five years in power, extending his family's rule in the oil-producing state.
    Glass and metal skyscrapers housing five-star hotels and exclusive boutiques glitter in sun and neon in Azerbaijan's capital city Baku, where opponents of Aliyev, 51, say controls on dissent mean they have little chance of stopping him winning a third five-year term.
    His victory would extend a dynastic rule under which he and his father, former Communist leader Heydar Aliyev, have ruled the mainly Muslim state since 1969, except for a period from 1982 to 1993.
    Located between Iran and Russia, Azerbaijan is a vital energy supplier to Europe and a transit route for U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Critics say this has made the West turn a blind eye to shrinking freedoms since Aliyev came to power in 2003.
    Opinion polls show Aliyev clearly in the lead, and his supporters say the reason is obvious.
    "Ilham Aliyev will win. The difference between him and the other candidate (Jamil Hasanly from the United Opposition Council) will be very large, because you know, the people support Ilham Aliyev, because....Look to the development of Azerbaijan in last ten years. Azerbaijan is a wonderful country; (Baku) is a wonderful city. Look to the streets, look to the buildings, and look to the salary of the people," said Aliyev's election headquarters representative Asef Hajiyev told Reuters.
    "What people do want in Azerbaijan? They like to have good life with good salary, prosperity, and we have (these) in Azerbaijan. We have prosperity, we have very high dynamic of development, and it means that the people should support the person who organises this policy," he added.
    On a recent visit to the headquarters, members of the ruling party's young guard assembled campaign materials and flags under portraits of Aliyev and his father.
    For the first time, Azerbaijan's political opposition has united behind a single candidate, Jamil Hasanly.
    During a televised election debate with other candidates - the majority of them pro-government - someone in the audience threw a bottle at the 61-year-old historian hopeful, missing its target.
    Analysts and opponents say Hasanly poses no threat to Aliyev, but he is convinced the opposition could be successful under fair electoral conditions.
    "We will win a lot of votes during these (presidential) elections. If we had been talking about elections where we should win by the number of votes, we will be the winners. But the problem is we have the central election commission which usually announces rigged results," the presidential candidate nominated by the Opposition National Council of Democratic Forces (NSDS) said.
    Hasanly said the election would not end political dissent in Azerbaijan.
    "I am not sure that the central election commission will ensure transparency of the elections. After the election we, within the framework of our constitution, will use all the methods envisaged by the international conventions which Azerbaijan officially joined and will continue the legitimate fight. But we will not resort to anything that could be regarded as unconstitutional," Hasanly added.
    Dozens of Aliyev's opponents have been arrested this year, more than doubling the number of political prisoners to 142, the Azerbaijan-based Human Rights Club said. Authorities have also raised fines on protesters who attend unsanctioned rallies.
    As oil output peaks, discontent is growing over the gap between rich and poor and tensions are rising with neighbouring Armenia in a territorial dispute that caused a war in the 1990s.
    Baku resident Rakil Rakimov said problems in the country were growing, and Aliyev will have to address them in his next term, though he told Reuters he wanted to vote for Hasanly.
    "I will vote for Jamil Hasanly because he is an ideal candidate and if he becomes a president he will change the situation in the country," he said.
    But the 190-m (620-ft) Flame Towers skyscraper looming over Baku, a testament to the oil boom, a century after the first oil barons struck rich on the shores of the Caspian Sea and built mansions and opera houses copied from Europe, incline the majority of the 9.3 million population of the South Caucasus republic to vote for the "strong" man.
    "Here we will vote only for (President) Ilham Aliyev, because he is the only person who will always defend our interests," Baku resident Heikhun Mexdiyev said without a doubt in his voice.
    Though economic growth has slowed since 2003-2007, when the economy expanded by an average of 21 percent per year, it still grew by 5.2 percent year-on-year in January-August compared to 1.3 percent in the same period last year, accelerating thanks to double-digit growth outside the oil sector, which accounts for about 70 percent of state revenues.
    Azerbaijan signed contracts last month to supply Europe with gas from its giant Shah Deniz field, due to come on line in several years, offering an alternative supply source to Russia.
    All the achievements have been clearly cited in the pro-government National Youth Council campaign ads, called "My President".
    Azerbaijan holds Presidential Elections on Oct. 9, when more than five million voters cast their ballots throughout the oil-rich country.
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