2005 Azerbaijani parliamentary election

Conduct

Human Rights Watch expressed concern about widespread intimidation of opposition supporters ahead of the elections, saying that the elections could not be free or fair under such conditions. Several opposition leaders were arrested two days before the elections.

ARTICLE 19 said Azerbaijani authorities were responsible for the violent harassment of journalists covering opposition rallies, frequent attacks and forced closure of independent media outlets, and widespread abuse of state and local resources in favour of pro-government candidates. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe reported that the vote counting process was "bad or very bad in 43 per cent of counts observed." However, observers from the Commonwealth of Independent States claimed the irregularities "were not of mass character and did not have [an] impact on the free expression of voters' will".

The opposition had hoped for another color revolution, but analysts doubted this would happen. Movements like Yox!, Yeni Fikir or Meqam were not yet ready for revolution according to Emin Huseynov, founder of Meqam.

Results

The Central Election Commission reported, with 28% of votes counted, 62% win for the NAP, 3% for the Equality Party, 1% for the APFP, 2% for independent candidates and 2% each for two other small parties. These results were contradicted by a Mitofsky International and Edison Media Research poll which predicted the NAP going from 75 to 56 seats in the 125-member assembly, with the Azadliq bloc winning 12 seats.

The Election Commission ruled that the results in four districts were invalid and the Constitutional Court annulled the results in a further six. There was a re-run in the ten districts on 13 May 2006 in which the New Azerbaijan Party won five seats, the Justice Party one, the Civic Solidarity Party one and independents three.

References

References

1. (2005). "Azerbaijan Parliamentary Elections 2005: Summary".
2. [https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4411172.stm Azeri ruling party 'wins' polls] BBC News, 7 November 2005
3. (2010-04-09). "European Court Finds Azerbaijan Guilty Of Election Fraud". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
4. [http://hrw.org/english/docs/2005/10/31/azerba11943.htm Azerbaijan: Run-Up to Election Not Free or Fair] Human Rights Watch, 31 October 2005
5. [https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4409812.stm Azeri opposition leaders arrested] BBC News, 5 NOvember 2005
6. [http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/70230/ ARTICLE 19 calls on government to prove its commitment to free and fair elections] {{Webarchive. link. (2006-06-24 International Freedom of Expression eXchange, 4 November 2005)
7. [https://reliefweb.int/report/azerbaijan/azerbaijan-elections-under-close-scrutiny Azerbaijan elections under close scrutiny] Relief Web, 8 November 2005
8. [http://www.nzz.ch/2005/11/06/al/articleDAQUU.html Weder orange noch rosarot] Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 6 November 2005
9. [http://ncpp.org/?q=node/77 Adventure In Baku: Exit-Polling Azerbaijan, NCPP]
10. [http://quirkglobalstrategies.com/blog/?p=45 Poll Stir, QBS]