Azerbaijan is electing a president

Today, Azerbaijanis vote in the presidential elections, and Ilham Aliyev's fifth term is considered a foregone conclusion after Baku's historic victory over Armenian separatists, AFP reported.
A crackdown on independent media and a lack of real opposition contributed to a certain victory for Aliyev, whose troops retook the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh in September.
The main opposition parties in the oil-rich country boycotted the vote, which one opposition leader, Ali Kerimli of the National Front party, called the election a "sham of democracy". "There are no conditions for holding free and fair elections in the country," he said.
The other six candidates are little known and have been busy praising Aliyev since he announced the election in December, a year ahead of schedule.
One of them, Fuad Aliyev, who is not related to the current leader, said recently that Ilham Aliyev "has fulfilled all the promises to the Azerbaijani people."
Two other candidates, Zahid Oruch and Fazil Mustafa, also hailed Aliyev as a great statesman and victorious commander-in-chief.
Last month, Aliyev called the victory in Karabakh, in which the entire ethnic Armenian population of more than 100,000 fled to Armenia, "an epoch-making event that has no parallel in the history of Azerbaijan."
"The elections will mark the beginning of a new era for the country," he said, adding that for the first time the country will hold presidential elections throughout its territory.
"The result of the elections in Azerbaijan on February 7 is known in advance, Aliyev will win," said independent analyst Gia Nodia of the Caucasus Center for Strategic and International Studies.
"There is no intrigue in these elections, without the slightest hint of competition."
Supporters praise Aliyev for turning the country, once considered a Soviet dungeon, into a thriving energy supplier to Europe.
But critics say he has crushed opposition groups and stifled independent media.
"All basic rights are violated in the country, opposition parties cannot function normally, freedom of assembly is limited, the media is under pressure from the government, and political dissent is suppressed," says Kerimli of the National Front.
In recent months, Azerbaijani authorities have stepped up pressure on independent media, arresting several critical journalists who were investigating high-level corruption.
"The escalating crackdown by the Azerbaijani authorities ahead of the elections is not only an assault on individual rights, but also a widespread, coordinated attack on civil society and the rule of law," Amnesty International said.
Aliyev, 62, was first elected president in 2003 after the death of his father, Heydar Aliyev, a former KGB officer who had ruled Azerbaijan since 1993.
He was re-elected in 2008, 2013 and - most recently - in 2018 with 86% of the vote.
All the elections were condemned by the opposition parties as rigged.
In 2009, Aliyev amended the country's constitution so that he could run for an unlimited number of presidential terms, a move criticized by rights activists who argued that he could become president for life.
In 2016, Azerbaijan passed controversial constitutional amendments that extended the president's term from five to seven years.
Consolidating a decades-long dynastic grip on power, the president appointed his wife, Mehriban Aliyeva, as first vice president.
About six million voters are registered to take part in the elections, which are monitored by observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
The preliminary results are expected to be announced a few hours after the end of voting at 15:00 GMT./BGNES