Without real opposition

Azerbaijan’s head of state Aliyev re-elected

Azerbaijan's head of state Ilham Aliyev has been officially re-elected for his fifth term in office.(Bild: AP/Azerbaijani Presidential Press Office)

Azerbaijan's head of state Ilham Aliyev has been re-elected for his fifth term in office with 92 percent of the vote (see video above). However, there was no real opposition and the government cracked down on independent media.

It was therefore considered certain that Aliyev would win the early presidential election. The 62-year-old has ruled the country with a hard line since the death of his father and predecessor Haidar Aliyev in 2003. In recent months, the Azerbaijani authorities have stepped up the pressure on independent media and arrested several critical journalists who had uncovered high-level bribery. The human rights organization Amnesty International spoke on Tuesday of a "comprehensive, coordinated attack on civil society and the rule of law."

Supporters of the Azerbaijani head of state(Bild: AFP)

Ilham Aliyev(Bild: AP/Azerbaijani Presidential Press Office)

Country "reunited"
 The current ballot was held around five months after the Azerbaijani military offensive in the disputed Caucasus region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Aliyev had brought forward the election originally planned for 2025 and traveled to Nagorno-Karabakh with his wife Mehriban to vote there. As reported, Azerbaijan's army had forced the dissolution of the self-proclaimed Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, which was previously predominantly inhabited by Armenians. This paved the way for the settlement of Azerbaijanis.

Aliyev boasts that he has "reunified" his country. In Wednesday's election, people were able to vote for the first time in 26 polling stations in the region. Azerbaijan and Armenia had been fighting over the region since the collapse of the Soviet Union. In the meantime, almost all of the former 120,000 inhabitants have fled to Armenia.

Ilham Aliyev with his wife Mehriban Alieva(Bild: AP/Azerbaijani Presidential Press Office)

Unlimited terms of office
According to the central electoral authority, voter turnout was 67.7 percent. Since 2009, the Azerbaijani head of state has been able to serve an unlimited number of terms in office. In 2016, the mandate was extended to seven years. In the same year, Aliyev appointed his wife as Vice-President.