Aliyev Wins Azerbaijan Presidential Election By A Landslide

Azerbaijan’s incumbent president, Ilham Aliyev, has won by a landslide the April 11 presidential election.

According to the Central Election Committee of Azerbaijan, 86.03 percent of voters – about 3.4 million Azerbaijanis – cast their ballot for President Aliyev.

In a post-election official address, President Aliyev, who will take the oath of office for his fourth consecutive term, thanked the people of Azerbaijan for what he called “great confidence” and “great support.”

“I have always felt the support of the people of Azerbaijan. This support gives me strength,” Aliyev said, according to his official President.Az website.

“This support is the primary condition for our development. People-government unity lies at the heart of our development in Azerbaijan,” the speech reads.

“In this election, the people of Azerbaijan voted for stability, security, development, prosperity, and highly appreciated what has been done over the past 15 years,” Aliyev said.

“We have gone through a decent path, a path of triumphs and success. I am confident that we will always move forward on the path of success. Towards new triumphs!” 

Social Democrat Party candidate Araz Alizade received 1.38 percent of votes, while Gudrat Hasanguliyev from the Whole Azerbaijan Popular Font Party was supported by 3.02 percent. Sardar Jalaloghlu Mammadov of the Azerbaijan Democrat Party and independent candidate Zahid Oruj won 3.03 percent and 3.11 percent, respectively. Faraj Guliyev from the National Revival Movement Party, Hafiz Hajiyev from the Modern Musavat Party, Razi Nurullayev from the Frontier’s Initiative Group have gained 1.17 percent, 1.52 percent and 0.74 percent of votes respectively.

Aliyev’s popularity has been on an upward trend since he won his first term 15 years ago, when he garnered 76.84 percent of votes. In 2008 and 2013, when Aliyev won his second and third races, he received 88.73 percent and 84.54 percent, respectively, of the vote totals.

Aliyev was congratulated by the Turkish, Russian, Iranian, Moldovan, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Georgian, Uzbek and Tajik heads of state after polls closed Wednesday and results were tabulated. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin was reported to have said that the results vividly confirm the high political authority of Aliyev among the people of Azerbaijan.

According to the CEC, 74.51 percent, or nearly 3.69 million out of 5.3 million, of registered voters cast their ballots at over 5,600 polling stations. The election was monitored by 894 international observers from 61 organizations and 59 countries, and 58,175 local watchers. Parliamentarians from the Czech Republic and Romania, Jiří Valenta and Victor Ponta, said the principles of democracy and the European standards were upheld completely during the presidential election.