Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

The October 9 presidential election in Azerbaijan ended with an overwhelming victory of incumbent President Ilham Aliyev, who was nominated by the ruling New Azerbaijan Party.

According to preliminary election tallies drawn up after processing the ballot papers from all polling stations, Ilham Aliyev got 3,126,612 votes (84.55 percent).

The New Azerbaijan Party (NAP), chaired by President Aliyev, celebrated their candidate's victory in the presidential elections with a concert organized at the park outside the party's headquarters. The concert followed a grand motocross taking place on this occasion.

The ruling party regarded the active participation of voters in the polls as great respect for their candidate.

Deputy Chairman of the ruling party Ali Ahmadov told a briefing over the past 10 years, President Aliyev has significantly changed the living standards of Azerbaijani citizens for the better. The country has achieved great economic development.

"Stability is another reason for great confidence of the people of Azerbaijan in Ilham Aliyev. Every citizen has a stable life and is confident in the future," Ahmadov said.

According to Ahmadov, Azerbaijan's economy will grow even stronger in the next five years and the country's international image will further increase.

President Aliyev addressed the nation as initial results of the presidential elections were announced.

The President thanked the people of Azerbaijan for their confidence in him.

"I assure the people of Azerbaijan that I will further serve the people with dignity and protect the interests of the Azerbaijani state," he said. "This election saw the people of Azerbaijan make their choice in a free, transparent manner. The presidential election in Azerbaijan is the triumph of democracy. There are all freedoms in Azerbaijan. Our country will further develop as a democratic state."

According to President Aliyev, the conduct of this election in a free and transparent manner is another serious step toward democracy.

"All freedoms are ensured in Azerbaijan: freedom of speech, freedom of the press, political freedoms, freedom of conscience. Representatives of all nationalities, all religions live in Azerbaijan as one family, in an atmosphere of peace and good relations. This is our great advantage, great wealth. It's no coincidence that today Azerbaijan has become a very important country in the world in terms of ethnic and religious tolerance," he said.

The President also said that the Azerbaijani people made their assessment of what has been done in the country in the last ten years.

"These ten years saw the foundations of our statehood strengthen. Azerbaijan is a strong state which pursues its independent policy. We have strong ideological foundations," the President said. "Azerbaijan is of great importance in terms of the settlement of global problems. Two years ago, supported by most of the world community, Azerbaijan was elected to the UN Security Council, the supreme organization in the world, which we now chair."

President Aliyev also highlighted the country's economic achievements.

"I can say that economic reforms carried out in Azerbaijan in the past 10 years and their results are the most serious achievements on a global scale," he said. "Our economy has grown 3.4-fold in the last decade, while the level of poverty reduced approximately 10 times. This is the result of serious economic and social policy carried out in the country. This policy helped Azerbaijan considerably strengthen its economic potential."

According to him, Azerbaijan's economic power allows protecting the country's interests internationally.

"Azerbaijan is playing its role in solving not only regional, but also global problems. And this role will further increase," he said. "According to ratings of the leading international economic organizations, Azerbaijan was developing even when the rest of the world was hit by the economic and financial crisis. Our economy was ranked among the top 40 economies of the world in terms of competitiveness."

According to President Aliyev, these achievements have been possible thanks to talent and efforts of the Azerbaijani people.

"I think that a well thought-out policy, unity between the authorities and the people as well as the people's support of all our initiatives are a major condition for our successes," he said.

The head of state highlighted Azerbaijan's energy policy, saying it is of profound significance not only for the region, but also the entire world.

"Today Azerbaijan is playing a role in the world as a modern, independent state, and we will have more capabilities," the President said. "We have broad capabilities to influence regional processes. No political, economic initiative can become a reality in the region without Azerbaijan's consent. Such initiatives will have no future. We are free, we are independent. Our destiny is in our own hands. The votes cast for me at this election are cast for the sake of independence, liberty and a happy future."

President Aliyev also noted that Azerbaijan is looking into the future with great optimism.

According to him, Azerbaijan will confidently move forward on the path of development.

"Azerbaijan will cement its position on the international scale, and all international initiatives will protect the interests of the people of Azerbaijan," he said. "We will continue our firm policy in terms of the development of democracy in Azerbaijan. The process of building a modern state will be continued. In the years to come we will combat undesirable instances, particularly the fight against corruption and bribery will be stepped up."

The President said, "We will continue our policy in terms of the development of entrepreneurship. We have concrete programs on all directions - creating new jobs, reducing poverty and unemployment, and import replacement."

"In the years to come we will move forward in terms of economic reforms, social policy, energy policy, foreign policy. We will build a more powerful Azerbaijan, a stronger state where each citizen will feel comfortable and live in peace and stability."

The President also said that Azerbaijan will further develop confidently.

"The Azerbaijani state and me as the President will protect the national interests of Azerbaijan and ensure the people's prosperity," he said.

"Once again I would like to express my gratitude to you for supporting me in the past 10 years. Once again I assure you that I will try my best to work for the prosperity of our people, and the strengthening of our state. Together we will make big achievements," Aliyev concluded.

After the announcement of his victory based on preliminary tallies President Aliyev received congratulations from top officials of numerous countries.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul called his Azerbaijani counterpart on October 9 and congratulated him on a remarkable victory in the presidential elections.

He wished President Aliyev success in his work for Azerbaijani people's well-being and prosperity.

Aliyev received congratulations over his overwhelming victory from Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, Russian President Valdimir Putin, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev.

Exit polls confirm preliminary tallies

Results of exit polls held by international and local organizations testified to the legitamacy of the presidential elections in Azerbaijan.

An exit poll conducted by the French OpinionWay Research Institute revealed that Ilham Aliyev sealed victory, gaining a major 82.8 percent of votes.

The institute conducted the exit poll in 99 polling stations of 64 constituencies. Some 1,000 people who voted in these polling stations filled out questionnaires and cast them in a transparent box. The anonymity of those polled was provided.

The results of the exit poll conducted by the NGO Cooperation Alliance in 939 polling stations in 125 constituencies also indicated that nearly 84 percent of the popular vote went to the incumbent president.

The poll held by U.S. Arthur J. Finkelstein & Associates (AJF) among 60,000 respondents said President Aliyev won 82.7 percent of the votes.

Similar results were recorded from exit polls conducted by the local West-Resource public association for support of civil society development, ELS Independent Research Center as well as REY Monitoring Centre, which cited the victory of Ilham Aliyev by the majority of votes.

Int'l observers laud vote

The voting process in Azerbaijan's presidential elections was monitored by international observers from the European Parliament, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), the Parliament Assembly of the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE PA), TurkPA, GUAM, the Interparliamentary Assembly of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (PABSEC), representatives of the diplomatic missions accredited in Azerbaijan, as well as observers from the U.S., Germany, the Czech Republic, France, Indonesia, and Moldova.

Observers stated that the presidential election in Azerbaijan was held in a fair, free and transparent atmosphere and in line with international standards. The campaigning of the candidates was organized well and all the candidates were provided with equal conditions.

The main points stressed during the election observation are the lack of any violations and a high level of transparency of the voting process.

The presidential election was organized well and conducted in accordance with international commitments and standards of democratic elections as well as the legislation of Azerbaijan, the international observers said.

"Technical equipment of the electoral process is at a good level," they said and also cited the activeness of voters.