Azerbaijan ruling party wins vote, opposition cries foul

Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev's ruling party on Sunday won a majority of seats in snap parliamentary polls, according to exit polls, as the opposition denounced what it said was mass electoral fraud. Aliyev's Yeni (New) Azerbaijan party has won 69 seats in the 125-member parliament, the Milli Majlis, according to two exit polls conducted by local pollsters.

The ruling party - which faced little challenge from the embattled opposition - promised that the election would be democratic, but opposition parties have accused the government of limiting their ability to campaign and several parties boycotted the vote.

"The elections were totally falsified," opposition leader Arif Gadjily of the Musavat party told AFP, denouncing what he claimed was widespread ballot stuffing and multiple voting.

Faced with public discontent over a slowing economy Aliyev, 58, hoped to improve the government's image by holding early elections and replacing discredited old elites with younger technocrats, critics said.

At a polling station in Baku, Vafa Alekperova, a 43-year-old schoolteacher, said she voted for a candidate of the ruling Yeni Azerbaijan party. "I trust the party and my hopes for a better future are tied to it," she said.