2013 Azerbaijani presidential election

2013 Azerbaijani presidential election
← 2008 9 October 2013 (2013-10-09) 2018 →
Turnout71.62%
 
Nominee Ilham Aliyev Jamil Hasanli
Party New Azerbaijan NCDF
Popular vote 3,126,113 204,642
Percentage 84.54% 5.53%
Results by constituency
  Ilham Aliyev
President before election

Ilham Aliyev
New Azerbaijan

Elected President

Ilham Aliyev
New Azerbaijan

Presidential elections were held in Azerbaijan on 9 October 2013.[1] The result was a victory for incumbent President Ilham Aliyev, who received a reported 85% of the vote, whilst leading opposition candidate Jamil Hasanli finished second with a reported 6% of the vote.

The elections were marred by claims of irregularities; official results were accidentally released by the government's Central Election Commission through a mobile app before voting began, giving incumbent Aliyev a victory with 73% of the vote.[2] The commission later recalled the results, claiming that they were taken from the 2008 elections.[2] The claim was disputed, given that the results accidentally released included the candidates from the 2013 elections,[2] and that the percentages differed from the 2008 results.

Opposition candidates were imprisoned and repressed in the lead-up to the elections, which led the European Court of Human Rights to issue a judgment against the Aliyev regime.[3][4][5] The Aliyev regime put up numerous non-genuine candidates to confuse voters and dilute support for opposition candidates.[4] Freedom of speech was restricted prior to the elections.[4] OSCE monitors reported candidate and voter intimidation and a restrictive media environment, including arrests and the use of force against journalists and activists. 92% of the coverage on the six main TV channels were dedicated to the incumbent president.[6]

  1. ^ "Central Election Commission declares Azerbaijani presidential elections will be held on October 9". Azerbaijan Business Centre. 14 January 2013.
  2. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference wapo_oops was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Waal, Thomas De (2018). The Caucasus: An Introduction. Oxford University Press. pp. 227–228. ISBN 978-0-19-068308-5.
  4. ^ a b c "Azerbaijan's pre-determined president". BBC News. 2013-10-08. Retrieved 2024-01-01.
  5. ^ "Dispatches: Court Slams Azerbaijan for Rights Abuses | Human Rights Watch". Human Rights Watch. 2014-05-22.
  6. ^ OSCE/ODIHR Final Report on Azerbaijan Presidential election, 24 December 2013