Presidential elections were held in

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

on 15 October 2008.

Ilham Aliyev Ilham Heydar Oghlu Aliyev (born 24 December 1961) is an Azerbaijani politician who has been the fourth president of Azerbaijan since 2003. He is also the leader of the New Azerbaijan Party since 2005. The son and second child of former Aze ...

of the

New Azerbaijan Party The New Azerbaijan Party (, YAP) is the ruling political party in Azerbaijan, founded on 21 November 1992 under the leadership of Heydar Aliyev. After his election as President of Azerbaijan on 3 October 1993, and the party's victory at 1995 parl ...

was re-elected with 89% of the vote. The election was not free and fair. In the lead-up to the election, OSCE highlighted election irregularities and government repression of the opposition. The opposition were not allowed by the government to hold campaign rallies. Students and state workers were coerced into attending pro-Aliyev rallies and were also bussed to polling places to vote for Aliyev. All major opposition parties, including

Musavat The Müsavat Party (, from ''musāwāt'', ) is the oldest existing political party in Azerbaijan. Its history can be divided into three periods: Early Musavat, Musavat-in-exile and New Musavat. The party was prohibited from contesting the 1995 ...

, the Azerbaijan Popular Front Party, Azerbaijan Liberal Party, and the Azerbaijan Democratic Party boycotted the vote because of alleged poll-fixing and oppression of political opponents. Aside from Aliyev, none of the candidates running in the election were well known.

Background

The incumbent, Ilham Aliyev, was nominated by the New Azerbaijan Party for a second term on 3 August 2008. Musavat, the Azerbaijan Popular Front Party, the Azerbaijan Liberal Party, the Citizen and Progress Party, and the Azerbaijan Democratic Party announced their boycott of the election due to unfair conditions. In response, an aide to Aliyev claimed that the opposition withdrew because it "knew that President Aliyev would win the elections with a majority." A total of seven candidates filed to run in the election. Each of the candidates had to collect 40,000 support signatures. Campaigning officially began in mid-September. The candidates were limited to a four-week campaigning period by law. According to

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a media organization broadcasting news and analyses in 27 languages to 23 countries across Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and the Middle East. Headquartered in Prague since 1995, RFE/RL ...

, IRFS and RSF, the media (state-owned and private) showed bias in favor of Aliyev's candidacy.

Conduct

The election was observed by more than 500 international observers, mostly from the

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is a regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization comprising member states in Europe, North America, and Asia. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, the p ...

(OSCE). The OSCE said that there was progress in the elections compared to past ones, however it did not meet international standards, because of the lack of competition to incumbent Ilham Aliyev. The NATO Secretary General, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, declared "He welcomes reports from the international election observers from OSCE, Council of Europe and the European Parliament indicating progress in the conduct of Azerbaijan’s presidential elections on 15 October 2008. Azerbaijan should build on this achievement and address the remaining shortcomings that were noted." Avez Temirhan of the election-boycotting Azerbaijan Liberal Party said, "This leadership is not legitimate and its election does not reflect the will of the people."

Results

A total of seven candidates registered with the

Central Election Commission An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...

. The incumbent, Ilham Aliyev, won the election with over 88% of the vote, and Igbal Aghazade came in second with 2.86%. Voter turnout was 75.1%. Fuad Aliyev and Hafiz Hajiev, as in 2003, received fewer votes than supporting signatures. Eight polling places' votes were invalidated.

References

{{Azerbaijani elections

Presidenti Presidential elections in Azerbaijan