AZERBAIJAN: POLITICS - Azerbaijan wakes up to the news of incumbent President Ilham Aliyev winning his third term as the leader of the oil-producing ex-Soviet republic

Record ID: 218339

  • Title: AZERBAIJAN: POLITICS - Azerbaijan wakes up to the news of incumbent President Ilham Aliyev winning his third term as the leader of the oil-producing ex-Soviet republic
  • Date: 10th October 2013
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) PENSIONER FROM BAKU, LYUBOV YEVGENYEVA, SAYING: "The best is the enemy of the good, so I think it will not get worse, I suppose it will not be worse." TRAFFIC POLICE ON STREET (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) DEPUTY CHAIRMAN OF OPPOSITION SOCIAL-DEMOCRATIC PARTY, SALADIN ALAKHMEDOV, SAYING: "Ilham Aliyev was the most real candidate, I do not see any alternativ
  • Embargoed: 25th October 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Azerbaijan
  • Country: Azerbaijan
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAD1891YL0EWPHE38YYWIPN94UG
  • Story Text: Ilham Aliyev won a third term as president of Azerbaijan in an election the opposition said was marred by violations.
    Aliyev's control over most levers of power and media outlets made his victory a foregone conclusion for many in the nation of 9 million, even though the fractious opposition united for the first time in a presidential poll behind a single candidate.
    Election officials said a partial count gave Aliyev nearly 85 percent of the vote with almost 80 percent of ballots counted in country he has dominated since he succeeded his long-ruling father Heydar a decade ago, presiding over an oil-fuelled economic boom but tolerating little dissent.
    Aliyev has dismissed accusations of human rights abuses and says Azeris enjoy full democratic freedoms.
    He boasts that per capita GDP increased to $7,850 in 2012 from $850 in 2003, but economic growth has slowed since his first term and the distribution of wealth is uneven.
    But some saw the election as a vote for stability.

    "The best is the enemy of the good, so I think it will not get worse, I suppose it will not be worse," Lyubov Yevgenyeva, a pensioner from Baku, said.

    "Ilham Aliyev was the most real candidate, I do not see any alternative to him today so far, though I myself is a deputy chairman of an opposition political party, so far I do not see any alternative to him", Saladin Alakhmedov, deputy chairman of opposition Social-Democratic party, said.

    "I hope that he will ensure people's welfare and peaceful prosperity of the country, the most important thing is that our children live in peace and prosperity," said Baku resident Zeinab Kafarova.
    Azerbaijan's oil boom, the product of a BP-led consortium that exports Caspian Sea oil to ships in the Mediterranean Sea, raised living standards and boosted the mainly Muslim country's clout to court Western powers.
    Aliyev opened the path to a third five-year term by backing a 2009 referendum that scrapped presidential term limits. He won the presidency in 2003 and 2008 in votes international observers said fell short of democratic standards.
    The president has faced criticism at home and abroad over the government's treatment of its critics, as protests are quickly quashed and one rights group said a pre-election crackdown had doubled the number of political prisoners.
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