Azerbaijan election marred by violations, say international observers

A weekend parliamentary election in Azerbaijan was marred by numerous procedural violations, raising serious doubts about how free or fair it was, international observers said on Monday.

Partial results from Sunday's snap parliamentary election showed Azerbaijan's ruling party was leading in the vote, which President Ilham Aliyev called to consolidate power and speed economic reforms.

But international observers questioned the election's integrity.

"While the authorities stated to the International Election Observation Mission (IEOM) that there is a political will to organise elections in a free and fair atmosphere, many IEOM interlocutors have expressed serious concerns regarding respect of fundamental rights and freedoms," they said in a statement.