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Former MP candidate, human rights defender and former convict Vidadi Iskenderli renounced Azerbaijani citizenship, Azerbaijani service of RFE/RL reports.

He sent a letter about his decision to President Ilham Aliyev and several local media outlets. He said the pressures he has faced over the recent years, as well as the arbitrariness reigning in the country forced him to make the decision. Moreover, pressure was exerted on him and his family members, which further backed his determination.

According to RFE/RL, Vidadi Iskenderli’s candidature was nominated in 89th Geychay-Agdash electoral district. Before the polling day, he complained at the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) that obstacles were made against his pre-election campaign. The Commission, however, found his appeal groundless. He sent further complaints after the polls were over; still the CEC returned the appeal to him on 5 November. Now Iskenderli intends to seek an asylum in a foreign country.

Bakhtiyar Hajiyev, the head of the Public Policy Institute and former political prisoner, told Turan news agency that the November 1 parliamentary elections were very dull and worse than the previous, 2010, campaign. He said the public interest for the elections was extremely low, and the new parliament is not very different from the previous one – the same figures, the same political forces and parties – with three fourth of the previous MPs remaining in the parliament.

Hajiyev divided the 27 new MPs into three groups. First, the “invisibles,” who come into sight only during the election campaign period, while no one sees or hears form them for five years. The second group is used by the authorities to sharply criticise the opposition, Europe and the US. The third group consists of young people, including graduates of Western universities. “They can carry out a useful work even within limited power. Nevertheless, they will not take up cardinal steps, like legislative initiatives, or control the government,” Bakhtiyar Hajiyev pointed out.

Trend agency reports that the CEC discussed 18 Musavat party members’ appeals during its regular meeting. In the appeals, the party members, MPs candidates, said the CEC’s disregard of their refusal of the candidacy was a violation of the voters’ will and pressure on them. The CEC, however, found the appeals groundless noting that Musavat party candidates had received less votes during the polls than the leading candidates, which means that the claims about the violation of the voters’ will are unjustified.

According to Trend, Tural Abbasli, from Musavat, said that talks about his dismissal from the party stated once he spoke about his intention to run for an MP. He added that he does not think his steps somehow violated the party regulations. However, in case the party chairman Arif Hajili makes the decision, he will be dismissed from the party like his opponents Gubad Ibadoglu, Sakhavat Alisoy and others were. “Sadly, this has become a reality in the party,” Abbasli said.

He highlighted that if dismissed from Musavat, he will struggle for his rights because he has been a member of the party for 15 years and has done a lot for it during that period.

Haqqin.az reports that the CEC of Azerbaijan rejected singer Elza Seidjahan’s appeal to declare null the results of the 54th Shabran-Siyazan electoral district.  The CEC experts came to the conclusion that the singer’s complaints were not justified and there are no results to declare null the polls results. The website reminds that earlier Elza Seidjahan had reported falsifications during the polls in her district, as well as pressure on her representatives. 

The CEC meeting also discussed Umid Party chairman Igbal Agazade’s complaint. He nominated his candidacy in Khatain 3rd electoral district 35. He, too, asked to declare null the poll results at the 17, 18 and 26 polling stations of his district. An expert group investigation found that the appeal had arrived at the CEC in violation of the current rules, and that is why the CEC redirected it to be considered at the District Electoral Commission. 

Haqqin.az reminds that according to the preliminary calculations, at the 35th Khatain electoral district, the chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Azerbaijan, Araz Alizade, won Igbal Agazade, who had more than once been elected an MP from that district.

On 1 November, Azerbaijan held elections, where 767 candidates were struggling for the 125 seats in the Parliament. According to preliminary data issued by the CEC, the ruling Yeni Azerbiajan party won, receiving 70 seats in the legislative body of the country. The voter turnout was 55.7 percent: 2.89 million voters out of 5.2 million took part in the elections. 

The elections were observed by 503 international monitors from 40 organisations, including PACE, Interparliamentary Assembly of the CIS and the Parliamentary Assembly of Turkic-speaking Countries. There were reports about numerous irregularities in the polling stations. In particular, there were cases of ballot stuffing, voting carousels, and so on. 

International agencies took up rather stern stance over the upcoming parliamentary elections. The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) announced that, due to restrictions imposed by the Azerbaijani authorities, ODIHR had no choice but to cancel its mission to observe the country’s parliamentary elections. The European Parliament followed the suit.