Azerbaijan's Ilham Aliyev claims election victory

Azerbaijan's leader Ilham Aliyev has claimed victory in presidential polls, thanking the Azeri people for electing him to a third term. With about three-quarters of the votes counted Aliyev had won nearly 85%, the national election commission said. The president called the election a "triumph of democracy", but opposition groups alleged widespread fraud.  Aliyev inherited the presidency from his father in 2003. He has stifled dissent and scrapped term limits. So confident was he of victory on Wednesday, he did not run a campaign.  

"Azerbaijan will continue successfully to develop as a democratic country," Aliyev said in a pre-recorded TV address. "The fact that this election was free and transparent is another serious step towards democracy."

Human rights groups say in the run-up to the elections the government launched an unprecedented crackdown on its critics. But political opposition in the country of nine million has also been blunted by prosperity, with oil wealth more than tripling gross domestic product.

With 75% of the votes counted, the share for the main opposition candidate, Jamil Hasanli, stood at just 5.2%, the election commission said. Hasanli, a 61-year-old history professor, represents a coalition of parties. He told reporters earlier in the day that his campaign had witnessed "cases of ballot stuffing at a number of polling stations".

"Regrettably, many government officials are involved in falsification, becoming accomplices of a grave crime,'' he was quoted as saying.

Opposition activists circulated photos and videos appearing to show individuals casting multiple ballots - though these could not be verified.

Other challengers included five MPs and two low-profile opposition figures. Critics say some are in collusion with the government and only in the race to dilute the opposition vote.

Aliyev, who enjoys immense power after inheriting the presidency from his father in 2003, abolished a two-term presidential limit in a controversial referendum in 2009.

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