By Vestnik Kavkaza
According to preliminary results of the presidential elections in Azerbaijan, the winner is the current head of the state, Ilham Aliyev, who gained 84.73% of the vote. The second place is taken by the representative of the National Council Dzhamil Hasanli (5.2%) and the representative of Umid Party Igbal Agazade (2.31%). The huge gap between the leader and other candidates was predicted. The results of exit-polls were reflected in the results of the elections.
The head of the independent research center ELS, Irada Yagubova, told Vestnik Kavkaza that such a big voter turnout – she stated 72.3% - was typical for Azerbaijan. “A similar turnout was registered at the last elections in 2008,” Yagubova said. “Voters got used to exit-polls. This year the number of refusals from an interview was close to zero – only 5%. It means that exit-polls stopped being a modern know-how of the Western elections. The conditions for full anonymity were provided. Information is kept secret.” Yagubova said that a book based on results of exit-polls would be published after the elections.
George Birnbaum, a senior partner of Agf & Associates, told Vestnik Kavkaza: “Before the election, about a month ago, we did a pre-election survey, to see what the results would be pre-election and our results that we would have. So what we asked people a month ago and how people voted today match our data. That’s also an indication that it was democratic.”
The member of the Ukrainian parliamentary observing mission, Professor Oleg Zarubinsky paid attention to the fact that the exit-poll results were actually identical, notwithstanding, what international organizations conducted them. “Obviously the exit-polls confirm that Azerbaijani voters exercised their right for free elections,” Zurabsky stated. “I think the monitoring campaign was evidence that there were no actual violations at the elections,” the Ukrainian observer stressed.
The head of the Lithuanian Center of Studying Public Opinion and Market Research Vilmorus, Vladas Gaidis, told Vestnik Kavkaza: “My task was to study the methodology of local sociologists, how they conducted exit-polls, whether it was independently and matched the standards. I saw that there are very educated people and their technologies are at a high level. I have never been here and don't know about possible problems.”
In an interview with Vestnik Kavkaza, Polad Bulbuloglu, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Azerbaijan to Russia, stated: “I see a lot of positives in the future of Azerbaijan in the context of these elections. The fact is that even today no agitation was necessary – it is suffice to look at the achievements of Azerbaijan in recent years, both in internal and in external policies, to understand that Azerbaijan is in good hands, and it is safely and properly managed. Azerbaijan has taken a worthy place in the family of nations, and today Azerbaijan is a member of the UN Security Council, and in the region this country is crucial. Of course, it was quite hard to get all of this, and this hard work was done by our president, his whole team and all the people who are currently working on the development of Azerbaijan. So I think that today the Azerbaijani people will make the right choice so that this policy can continue. Inside Azerbaijan there is a development unique in today's post-Soviet space. Not only in the city of Baku, but also in the regions of Azerbaijan new jobs are being created, wages are rising, as well as pensions and scholarships - people cannot ignore this. You see a busy schedule today, there are a lot of people here. The fact is that in Russia many Azerbaijani citizens are living, working, a lot of students are learning – there is preparatory work with all of them for several months, and it has been announced to everyone that today, October 9, at the Embassy a polling station will be opened, and I am very happy that it all paid off: with great enthusiasm Azerbaijanis living in Russia are carrying out their civic duty and voting at the presidential elections. The president, who enjoys the people's trust, and I am confident that today there will be a high percentage of people who trust their fate to the president, of course, it indicates that today, regarding the politician who rules Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijani people trust him. And it gives him the opportunity to strongly believe in his course and to pursue it with even greater determination.”
