Election Day

On October 9th, 2013, Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, was re-elected for a third five-year term, made possible by a 2009 constitutional amendment that repealed the restriction on one person remaining in office for more than two consecutive terms and truly overwhelming public support: Official results from the Central Election Commission show the New Azerbaijan Party incumbent winning with more than 84% of the vote, only slightly down from 87.3% in the 2008 election.  For those of you who are jaded by current politics exemplified by the shutdown, stop and consider that for a moment - that sounds like the DISapproval rating for the U.S. Congress right now.  Has any American president even come close to winning the popular vote by such awe-inspiring margins?  I think the highest was LBJ, who got around 60%.  (Not that popular vote matters in American presidential elections.)

As Peace Corps Volunteers, we avoid getting involved in or commenting on local politics, and, as foreigners, we don't really have a dog in this fight anyway.  So although I can't really say anything about the election one way or another, I can say that in my personal experience no one has asked me for my views of the election, the President or the main challenger, Jamil Hasanli, from the National Council of Democratic Forces.  No one has remarked that they thought anything unexpected would happen.

Indeed, in terms of day-to-day life, the days after the election appear little different from the days before.  One local said he hadn't voted in the prior elections and wouldn't vote in this one either.  On the night of the election, my host family watched the usual sitcoms and Turkish cop dramas, with nary a political news story or live election coverage program to be heard.  If you're interested in more detailed coverage of the election locally and internationally, the information is there for the Googling.

As usual, whatever happens or doesn't happen at the top of the power structure, life goes on.