- Title: AZERBAIJAN: Voting takes place in Parliamentary elections.
- Date: 6th November 2005
- Summary: WOMAN BEING SPRAYED WITH INDELIBLE INK/GOING TOWARDS VOTING BOOTH
- Embargoed: 21st November 2005 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Azerbaijan
- Country: Azerbaijan
- Topics: Domestic Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA9JVIOYT487FCPQ638QY2Q0622
- Story Text: Azerbaijan was voting on Sunday (November 6) in a parliamentary election expected to give the ruling party a big majority, with Western governments hungry for the country's oil, hoping vote fraud and violence would not wreck the ballot. Opposition parties promised rallies this week in protest against what they predicted would be widespread election fraud, although analysts say there is unlikely to be a repeat of the popular revolts that followed disputed polls in fellow ex-Soviet states Ukraine and Georgia. The threat of violence hung over the election, with the interior minister saying radical elements in the opposition might try to provoke the police and warning any illegal protests would be stamped out. "These elections are very important for the future development of Azerbaijan. As you know Azerbaijan is a presidential republic but nevertheless elections to the parliament, I think, will create better conditions for the future democratic development of the country. The whole election process was positive, during all the stages electoral law was completely implemented. Equal conditions were provided for all the candidates, and in general, election process was smooth and peaceful," President Ilham Aliyev said as he voted at a polling station in Baku's School No. 6. Azerbaijan is in a South Caucasus region criss-crossed with smouldering separatist conflicts. Western governments are anxious for stability, especially with a pipeline expected to begin delivering oil to world markets from next year. Aliyev -- who succeeded his father as head of state -- runs a country of 8 million Muslims wedged between Russia and Iran. Corruption is endemic and the country has yet to hold an election judged free and fair by the West. For the first time, election officials in the 5,000 polling stations were spraying indelible ink on voters' thumbs to stop them voting twice. It was part of a package of anti-fraud measures adopted days before the vote. "There has been a lot of good preparations for these elections and one has reasons to hope that November 6 is a historic day," said Rino Harnish, the U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan. Western officials said the measures gave them some hope 43-year-old Aliyev was at least attempting to reform his administration and the vote would be cleaner than in the past. However, they said Aliyev was still struggling to stamp his authority on an old guard in his ruling elite which does not want to loosen its grip on power and may try to use strong-arm tactics in the election. The arrests late last month of two ministers and several other senior officials on charges of plotting a coup underlined the tensions inside Aliyev's team. Police released a campaign manager with the Azadlyq bloc, the main opposition force, after holding him for three days on disorder charges, his party said. The opposition said the arrest was the latest in a campaign of official harassment and interference that made a fair vote impossible. "We have plans in place that if there will be widespread fraud, we will for sure call on the people of Azerbaijan to protest against falsified results. And from November 8 we will start our protests. These protests will be peaceful; we want to have legal action, and will do our best not to hand the authorities an excuse to use violence against us," Ali Kerimli, one of a trio of Azadlyq bloc leaders, said as he cast his ballot. The last nationwide election, in 2003, was followed by violent clashes between police and opposition supporters. At least one man was killed. Opinion polls show most voters support the ruling Yeni Azerbaijan party. Though many people complain of official corruption, they fear handing power to the opposition will jeopardise economic stability. Polling stations close at 7 p.m. (1500 GMT) with first results expected early on Monday. There is no minimum turnout.
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