Azerbaijan presidential vote had ‘serious irregularities’: OSCE

Baku (AFP) – Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev’s landslide victory for a fourth term was marred by “serious irregularities” and a lack of real competition, the OSCE said Thursday after its observers monitored the vote.

“International observers reported widespread disregard for mandatory procedures, lack of transparency, and numerous serious irregularities, such as ballot box stuffing,” the OSCE said in a report, adding that the polls boycotted by the opposition “lacked genuine competition.”

burs-am/ach