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Eurasia
April 13, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 23
rather than on the president himself.
In power since his late father passed away in 2003, Aliyev has ruled the country with an iron fist, centralising power in his hands and those of his family, ensuring that all the country's institutions come under political control, amassing a large amount of wealth, silencing critics, and promoting the country as a source of energy externally.
The voter turnout was 75.14%, according to CEC. In a televised speech, Aliyev praised himself
for his accomplishments in office thus far, for increasing salaries by a factor of eight in the last 15 years (though important professions, such
as teachers, continue to earn as little as $100 a month) and for tripling the size of the country's economy in the same timeframe. "We have had
a decent path, a path of triumphs and success. I am confident that we will always move forward on the path of success. Towards new triumphs!” he concluded.
In its most recent report on freedom in the world published on April 11, watchdog Freedom House gave Azerbaijan one of the worst possible scores - 6.93 out of 7 (with seven being the worst) for democracy, corresponding to a consolidated au- thoritarian regime. In the report, Freedom House noted: "Authoritarianism in Azerbaijan became more deeply entrenched than ever in 2017, as the state apparatuses took a number of unprecedent- ed steps to limit freedom of expression, silence critics at home and abroad, and crack down on
minority communities for political gain. Rather than undertake long-needed governmental or economic reforms, the ruling elite responded to a persistently weak economy by further sup- pressing government critics, fighting behind-the- scenes battles over shrinking state resources, and emptying state coffers on international lobbying efforts. "
Furthermore, Aliyev's appointment of his wife Mehriban as first vice president in February
2017 was an indication that his control over the country has strengthened considerably, the report notes. "The consequences of this personalization of the state are already being felt: independent media outlets suspected that the March large- scale attacks on their websites, which eventually led to a complete blockade, were instigated by [Mehriban] Aliyeva’s displeasure at their coverage of her appointment."
Several high-profile corruption scandals involving Azerbaijan, such as the 'Azerbaijani Laundromat', also unravelled last year, prompting Europe's hu- man rights organisation, the Council of Europe, to conduct an internal investigation into how Azer- baijan bribed its members to win favourable votes. Azerbaijan has given ever stronger indications that its leaders no longer care about interna- tional criticism, Freedom House concluded, which explains why Baku has overextended its reach
and arrested journalists and bloggers in third countries, and why it withdrew from the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI).