Early Vote Results Give Azerbaijani President Majority Needed For Power Shift

Members of a local electoral commission count ballots at a polling station after a snap parliamentary election in Baku on February 9.

BAKU -- The ruling New Azerbaijan Party (YAP) is set to gain a majority of seats in the Caucasus country's single-chamber parliament, following snap elections that observers say will allow President Ilham Aliyev to remove elites associated with his father in a consolidation of power through reforms.

YAP candidates won 81 of the 125 seats in parliament, according to data provided by the Central Election Commission (CEC) on February 10 based on voting protocols from almost all polling stations.

The CEC put the turnout at 47.81 percent, nearly eight percentage points less than in the previous parliamentary elections. The result, if it holds, gives the ruling party an increase of 16 seats from what it had in the outgoing parliament, the Milli Majlis, before the snap elections were called. Pro-government parties and nominally independent candidates who support YAP policies took all the rest of the seats in the February 9 elections, which were marred by apathy among voters and reports of irregularities such as multiple voting, interrupted video feeds at polling stations, and the hindrance and abuse of independent observers. In a preliminary report, monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the Council of Europe said "the restrictive legislation and political environment prevented genuine competition" in the elections, while "significant procedural violations during counting and the tabulation” were reported on voting day. Voting was "assessed negatively" at 7 percent of polling stations observed, the report said, adding that the "statistically high figure" is indicative of "serious procedural shortcomings."

In a statement on February 10, the U.S. Embassy in Baku seconded the conclusions drawn by the OSCE report. "The United States shares the observations and concerns of the OSCE ODIHR monitoring mission that the February 9 parliamentary elections transpired in a restrictive legislative and political environment that prevented genuine competition," the statement said. "The elections were marked by limitations on the freedom of media and assembly. We were disappointed by significant procedural violations observed by ODIHR on Election Day, including ballot box stuffing, group voting, a disregard of reconciliation procedures, and limited transparency during vote counting," it said.

The ballot was boycotted by some opposition parties in protest over limitations on access to media and the right to peaceably assemble.