AZERBAIJAN: THOUSANDS OF OPPOSITION SUPPORTERS TAKE TO STREETS CALLING FOR FAIR PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS

Record ID: 218581

  • Title: AZERBAIJAN: THOUSANDS OF OPPOSITION SUPPORTERS TAKE TO STREETS CALLING FOR FAIR PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS
  • Date: 8th September 2003
  • Summary: BAKU, AZERBAIJAN (SEPTEMBER 7, 2003) (REUTERS) 1. WIDE OF RALLY MOVING TOWARDS CITY CENTRE, WITH PEOPLE CARRYING BLUE PARTY FLAGS 0.07 2. SCU "MUSAVAT" OPPOSITION BLOCK LEADER ISA GAMBAR (WEARING GLASSES) AMONG DEMONSTRATORS 0.11 3. SCU FLAGS TILT DOWN MV RALLY PARTICIPANTS CARRYING NATIONAL FLAGS; TWO COLUMNS OF SECURITY FORCES ON ALERT; P
  • Embargoed: 23rd September 2003 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: BAKU, AZERBAIJAN
  • Country: Azerbaijan
  • Reuters ID: LVA1IAPE48NB8S5O6BWFZWJHHIQ8
  • Story Text: Thousands of opposition supporters have taken to the
    streets of the capital of Azerbaijan calling for fair
    presidential elections.

    Around 30,000 demonstrators rallied in central Baku,
    capital of Azerbaijan, on Sunday (September 7) calling for
    fair presidential elections, sheduled for October 15. The
    rally, one of the largest in the last 5 years, was
    organised by the Musavat opposition block headed by
    46-year-old Isa Gambar.

    Gambar, one of the candidates for the coming
    presidential elections, boicotted the 1998 elections saying
    they were undemocratic.

    The organisers of the rally called on the Azeri people
    to rise up against those who try to usurp power in
    Azerbaijan.

    "This is only the beginning of our political act. Our
    next real act will be a lot bigger and will have much more
    people. We know what we're talking about," Isa Gambar told
    reporters.

    Gambar and his supporters accuse the ruling Aliev clan
    of trying to usurp power in the country and create a kind
    of monarchistic regime.

    The protesters, carrying blue opposition flags and
    chanting "Musavat!" and "Isa Gambar-our leader!" walked
    throught the centre of capital Baku in a rally authorised
    by authorites. Police in riot gear lined the route.

    After Ilham Aliyev's appointment by his father as prime
    minister in early August, U.S. President George W. Bush
    sent a message of congratulations in which he said
    Washington looked forward to cooperating with him in
    building democratic institutions.

    Heydar Aliyev, the republic's one-time Communist boss
    and later a Soviet Politburo member, became president in
    1993 at a time of crisis -- Azerbaijan was facing the
    threat of civil war in addition to a territorial conflict
    with Armenia. The elder Aliyev drew in Western companies to
    develop and export the country's vast oil supplies. Key to
    this effort is a 1,100-mile pipeline under construction
    from Azerbaijan through Georgia to Turkey's Mediterranean
    port of Ceyhan.

    The U.S. government backs the 3 billion U.S. dollar
    pipeline project, due for completion in early 2005, as a
    way to shore up the independence of former Soviet states
    around the Caspian by providing a way to export oil without
    needing to send it across Russia or Iran.

    Previous elections conducted under the elder Aliyev
    have been viewed by outside observers as blatantly rigged.

    Opposition leaders now say that the Americans must apply
    great pressure to ensure that the October 15 vote is
    reasonably honest.

    Both Aliyevs are registered as candidates. The elder
    Aliyev has been receiving treatment at a Cleveland hospital
    since early August for heart and kidney problems, and his
    ability to govern again is in doubt.

    The appointment of his son as prime minister makes him
    the political heir in two ways: if the president dies in
    office, the prime minister automatically becomes interim
    president. If the elder Aliyev is too ill to run in
    October, the son will be the standard-bearer for the ruling
    elite.


  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register