Azerbaijan voted Sunday in parliamentary polls expected to cement President Ilham Aliyev's grip on power and boycotted by the mainstream opposition as a sham.
Polling stations closed at 7:00 pm time (1500 GMT). The Central Election Commission was due to start releasing results later Sunday.
International rights groups have cast doubt on the vote, accusing the government of jailing political opponents on trumped-up charges and limiting parties' ability to campaign in the ex-Soviet state.
The leader of the opposition Musavat party, Isa Gambar, told AFP that victory for Aliyev's Yeni (New) Azerbaijan party was a foregone conclusion "in the absence of strong opposition candidates and amid widespread violations".
Yeni Azerbaijan had vowed the election would be flawless.
"The elections are being held in a fully transparent and democratic atmosphere," Aliyev's top aide, Ali Gasanov, told AFP.
Turnout was 50.1 percent at 1300 GMT, the Central Election Commission said.
- 'Imitation elections' -
The tightly controlled Caucasus nation's leading opposition parties, including the National Council of Democratic Forces (NCDF), the Musavat party, and the Democratic Party of Azerbaijan, boycotted the polls, with the NCDF calling them an "imitation" of elections.
"The country does not possess even half of the conditions necessary for free and fair elections," the party said.
Another major opposition party, the Republican Alternative (REAL), said it would not recognise the election results.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) did not send observers to the election, citing "restrictions" imposed on its monitoring mission by the Azerbaijani authorities and criticised the "crackdown on independent and critical voices".
Aliyev on Sunday criticised the move as "unacceptable."
None of the elections held in Azerbaijan since Aliyev came in power in 2003 has been recognised as free and fair by international observers.
- Jailed opponents -
Any display of public discontent and political dissent usually meets a tough government response.
Rights groups say the government has particularly clamped down on opponents since Aliyev's re-election for a third term in 2013.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Amnesty International have decried the authorities' systematic attacks on opponents in the lead-up to the election.
"At least 20 people are currently imprisoned in the country merely for having challenged the government's policies," London-based Amnesty said in a statement.
HRW said the authorities have used spurious charges of drugs or weapons possession, tax evasion, and even high treason to jail political activists and dissenting journalists.
Over the past year, Aliyev's leading political opponent, REAL party leader Ilgar Mammadov, as well as the country's top critical journalist Khadija Ismayilova and a prominent Azeri couple that campaigns against human rights abuses, Leyla and Arif Yunus, were sentenced to lengthy jail terms over charges they say were politically motivated.
Despite international criticism, Aliyev secured a third consecutive term in flawed presidential polls in 2013, extending his family's decades-long grip on power in the energy-rich Caspian Sea nation of 9.5 million people.
He took over in 2003 on the death of his father Heydar Aliyev, a former KGB officer and communist-era leader who had ruled newly independent Azerbaijan with an iron fist since 1993.
The mainly Muslim country wedged between Iran and Russia is considered key to Western efforts to reduce Europe's reliance on Russian hydrocarbons.
Depending largely on its energy exports, the country was hit by a drop in oil and gas prices and the global economic downturn, and in late February 2015 devalued its currency, the manat, by 34 percent against the dollar.
More than 700 candidates from 13 parties and one bloc were standing for the 125-seat, single-house parliament, the Milli Majlis, to be elected for a five-year term.
Over 5.9 million people were registered to vote.
Azerbaijan voted Sunday in parliamentary polls expected to cement President Ilham Aliyev’s grip on power and boycotted by the mainstream opposition as a sham.
Polling stations closed at 7:00 pm time (1500 GMT). The Central Election Commission was due to start releasing results later Sunday.
International rights groups have cast doubt on the vote, accusing the government of jailing political opponents on trumped-up charges and limiting parties’ ability to campaign in the ex-Soviet state.
The leader of the opposition Musavat party, Isa Gambar, told AFP that victory for Aliyev’s Yeni (New) Azerbaijan party was a foregone conclusion “in the absence of strong opposition candidates and amid widespread violations”.
Yeni Azerbaijan had vowed the election would be flawless.
“The elections are being held in a fully transparent and democratic atmosphere,” Aliyev’s top aide, Ali Gasanov, told AFP.
Turnout was 50.1 percent at 1300 GMT, the Central Election Commission said.
– ‘Imitation elections’ –
The tightly controlled Caucasus nation’s leading opposition parties, including the National Council of Democratic Forces (NCDF), the Musavat party, and the Democratic Party of Azerbaijan, boycotted the polls, with the NCDF calling them an “imitation” of elections.
“The country does not possess even half of the conditions necessary for free and fair elections,” the party said.
Another major opposition party, the Republican Alternative (REAL), said it would not recognise the election results.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) did not send observers to the election, citing “restrictions” imposed on its monitoring mission by the Azerbaijani authorities and criticised the “crackdown on independent and critical voices”.
Aliyev on Sunday criticised the move as “unacceptable.”
None of the elections held in Azerbaijan since Aliyev came in power in 2003 has been recognised as free and fair by international observers.
– Jailed opponents –
Any display of public discontent and political dissent usually meets a tough government response.
Rights groups say the government has particularly clamped down on opponents since Aliyev’s re-election for a third term in 2013.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Amnesty International have decried the authorities’ systematic attacks on opponents in the lead-up to the election.
“At least 20 people are currently imprisoned in the country merely for having challenged the government’s policies,” London-based Amnesty said in a statement.
HRW said the authorities have used spurious charges of drugs or weapons possession, tax evasion, and even high treason to jail political activists and dissenting journalists.
Over the past year, Aliyev’s leading political opponent, REAL party leader Ilgar Mammadov, as well as the country’s top critical journalist Khadija Ismayilova and a prominent Azeri couple that campaigns against human rights abuses, Leyla and Arif Yunus, were sentenced to lengthy jail terms over charges they say were politically motivated.
Despite international criticism, Aliyev secured a third consecutive term in flawed presidential polls in 2013, extending his family’s decades-long grip on power in the energy-rich Caspian Sea nation of 9.5 million people.
He took over in 2003 on the death of his father Heydar Aliyev, a former KGB officer and communist-era leader who had ruled newly independent Azerbaijan with an iron fist since 1993.
The mainly Muslim country wedged between Iran and Russia is considered key to Western efforts to reduce Europe’s reliance on Russian hydrocarbons.
Depending largely on its energy exports, the country was hit by a drop in oil and gas prices and the global economic downturn, and in late February 2015 devalued its currency, the manat, by 34 percent against the dollar.
More than 700 candidates from 13 parties and one bloc were standing for the 125-seat, single-house parliament, the Milli Majlis, to be elected for a five-year term.
Over 5.9 million people were registered to vote.
