2003 Azerbaijani presidential election

2003 Azerbaijani presidential election

← 1998 15 October 2003 2008 →

Nominee Ilham Aliyev Isa Gambar Party New Azerbaijan Musavat Popular vote 1,860,346 338,145 Percentage 76.84% 13.97%

President before election Heydar Aliyev New Azerbaijan Elected President Ilham Aliyev New Azerbaijan

Politics of Azerbaijan
Constitution Constitutional court Human rights
Head of state President Ilham Aliyev Vice President: Mehriban Aliyeva Office of the President
Executive Prime Minister Ali Asadov Cabinet of Ministers
National Assembly National Assembly Speaker: Sahiba Gafarova
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Elections Presidential: 2013 2018 2024 Parliamentary: 2015 2020 2024 Political parties
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Presidential elections were held in Azerbaijan on 15 October 2003. As expected, Ilham Aliyev, son of the outgoing president, Heydar Aliyev, was officially elected with an overwhelming majority in a vote international observers deemed not to be free or fair.^[1][2]

The election was characterized by ballot stuffing and manipulated voter lists. The final vote tabulation was kept from OSCE/ODIHR monitors, which meant that they could not judge the accuracy of the results.^[3] Police arrested members of electoral commissions who refused to sign paperwork on vote counts from their precincts.^[3] The opposition claimed that Gambar had won the election.^[3] The opposition protested against the election results, with the Aliyev regime arresting hundreds, including Gambar.^[4]

Human Rights Watch stated that the "election campaign... from the beginning was heavily manipulated by the government to favor Prime Minister Ilham Aliyev, son of President Heydar Aliyev. The government ensured that election commissions would be stacked to favor Aliyev, and banned nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) from monitoring the vote. As the election drew nearer, government officials openly sided with Ilham Aliyev, obstructed opposition rallies, and sought to limit participation in them. Police have beaten and arbitrarily detained hundreds of opposition activists, including a 73-year-old woman."^[1]

The Institute for Democracy in Eastern Europe provided 188 election observers. The mission, requested by the United States government, formed part of a larger group of observers monitoring under the auspices of the OSCE. The IDEE observers observed more than 1,000 voting precincts and Constituency Election Centers where votes were tabulated, and collectively issued a "Votum Separatum," which expressed their outrage at election fraud, intimidation and political repression they witnessed during their observation mission and their disagreement with the OSCE's mild preliminary report calling the elections "generally well administered."^[2]

• OSCE report