WASHINGTON, October 10 (RIA Novosti) – The United States on Thursday rapped Azerbaijan over an election that handed President Ilham Aliyev a third consecutive five-year term at the helm of an oil-rich former Soviet republic his family has run for decades, saying it did not meet “international standards.”
“It is with regret that we conclude this election fell short of international standards,” State Department Deputy Spokeswoman Marie Harf said.
She said the election Tuesday was marked by procedural irregularities including ballot box stuffing, “serious problems” with vote counting and failure to record the number of received ballots.
Official results reported Thursday showed Aliyev had won a resounding victory with more than 85 percent of the vote. His main opponent received just over five percent, according to the results.
Harf also said Azerbaijani authorities “maintained a repressive political environment” ahead of the vote, interfered “routinely” with media and civil society, violently broke up peaceful rallies and jailed some opposition and youth activists.
Asked if the dim US view of the presidential election would have any consequences for Washington’s relationship with Azerbaijan, which sits on the northwest border of Iran, Harf said: “We’ll keep evaluating the situation and take a look at our policy and see where things go from here.”
She also pointed out that the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), in its own report on the vote, had noted “constructive steps” taken by Azerbaijan, including allowing some opposition candidates to run, some opposition rallies to be held and inviting the OSCE to observe.
“Democracy is more than one election,” Harf said.
Aliyev’s father, Heydar Aliyev, was the Soviet-era ruler of Azerbaijan from 1969 to 1982 and remained an influential political force in the country after that before returning as president of an independent post-Soviet Azerbaijan in 1993, a post he held until his death in 2003 when his son took over.
