Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan (Azerbaijani: Az?rbaycan) is a country in the Caucasus, at the crossroads of Europe and Southwest Asia, with a coast on the Caspian Sea. It has frontiers with Russia in the north, Georgia in the northwest, Armenia in the west and southeast and southwest, and Iran in the south. The Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic (an exclave of Azerbaijan) borders Armenia to the north and east, Iran to the south and west, and Turkey to the northwest.

Politics

Main article: Politics of Azerbaijan

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Azerbaijan is a presidential republic. The head of state and head of government are separate from the country?s law-making body. The people elect the president for a five-year term of office. The president appoints all cabinet-level government administrators. A fifty-member national assembly makes the country?s laws. The people of Azerbaijan elect the National Assembly. Azerbaijan has universal suffrage above the age of eighteen.

Related Topics:
Presidential republic - Head of state - Head of government - President - Cabinet - National Assembly - Universal suffrage

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After the presidential elections of October 15, 2003, an official release of the Central Election Committee (CEC) gave Isa Gambar -Leader of the Largest Opposition Bloc, Bizim Azerbaycan (?Our Azerbaijan?)- 14% percent of the electorate, and the second place in election. Nevertheless, the OSCE, the Council of Europe, Human Rights Watch and other international organizations, as well as local independent political and NGOs voiced concern about observed vote rigging and a very flawed counting process.

Related Topics:
October 15, 2003 - Isa Gambar - Bizim Azerbaycan - OSCE - Council of Europe - Human Rights Watch - NGO

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Several independent (both local and international) organizations that had been observing and monitoring the election directly or indirectly declared Isa Gambar' winner in the 15 October election.

Related Topics:
Isa Gambar - 15 October election

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• Human Rights Watch commented on these elections: "Human Rights Watch research found that the government has heavily intervened in the campaigning process in favor of Prime Minister Ilham Aliev, son of current President Heidar Aliev. The government has stacked the Central Election Commission and local election commission with its supporters, and banned local non-governmental organizations from monitoring the vote. As the elections draw nearer, government officials have openly sided with the campaign of Ilham Aliev, constantly obstructing opposition rallies and attempting to limit public participation in opposition events. In some cases, local officials have closed all the roads into town during opposition rallies, or have extended working and school hours - on one occasion, even declaring a Sunday work day - to prevent participation in opposition rallies." (source: HTML format)
• OSCE's final report (source: HTML format or PDF format))