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Presidential elections were held in Azerbaijan on 15 October 2008. Ilham Aliyev of the New Azerbaijan Party was re-elected with 89% of the vote. The election was not free and fair.
In the lead-up to the election, OSCE highlighted election irregularities and government repression of the opposition.[1] The opposition were not allowed by the government to hold campaign rallies.[1] Students and state workers were coerced into attending pro-Aliyev rallies and were also bussed to polling places to vote for Aliyev.[1]
All major opposition parties, including Musavat, the Azerbaijan Popular Front Party, Azerbaijan Liberal Party, and the Azerbaijan Democratic Party boycotted the vote because of alleged poll-fixing and oppression of political opponents.[2][1] Aside from Aliyev, none of the candidates running in the election were well-known.[1]