Oops I did it again!

I wish this was about Britney Spears, pony tails, and high school. No, this is a moment my dear friends I call (and it just came to me as I was actually sharing this on Facebook) the "Oops I did it again" moment referring to fraud elections in Azerbaijan. 

Here is the scoop- the main electoral body- Central Election Committee of Azerbaijan wanted to be all high tech and released apps for Android and i-Phone. Not sure how far our IT sector has developed (even though authorities are claiming its the fastest growing non-oil sector) it obviously needs a lot more development at least in being a tat bit more discreet. I mean EVERYBODY knows elections will be falsified but at least as it has been in previous elections people have a day of hope before the results are announced. So unable to hide their excitement and start the celebrations early, CEC app already showing the results of tomorrow's elections. Guess what?! Aliyev wins! 

Here is the screen shot: 

Oops!...I did it again
I played with your heart, got lost in the game
Oh baby, baby
Oops!...You think I'm in love
That I'm sent from above
I'm not that innocent

yeah yeah yeah yeah

The Central Election Committee

About a month ago, I took my papers personally to the Central Election Committee here in Baku in order to get observer credentials during the upcoming elections. It went almost too smoothly- a printed out form, filled and signed, with two passport sized photos and a photocopy of my passport. But, I didn't get anything in return- like a receipt or a paper confirming my application. The guard (who was extremely kind and also surprised that I was applying for an observer credentials to begin with) took my papers and assured me that I should have them ready in three days. So imagine my surprise when I showed up at the CEC this afternoon and was told that they never received my papers. 

The man on the phone (I had to stand outside of the entrance and call from a phone attached to the wall) took the liberty of making a few jokes- your last name means "lost" (yes, if you take the first four letters of my last name it does have a meaning as such but really?) so maybe it was natural that papers got lost somewhere. Numerous times he asked me whether I applied individually and perhaps there was simply a problem. He then told me to call another extension number. I did. No one answered. I called back the man I spoke earlier. I asked him how is it that if there were any kind of issues with my application they never called the number provided on the paper. He first was surprised. "Which number?" he asked, I said the number that you asked me to provide on the paper when I came here. "Are you sure you came here yourself?" he asked again. No, I teleported my self-double.

Anyhow, surely I was frustrated. In the back of my head, I thought there was a slight little chance that I was never going to get it. But then SURPRISE! 

The man who joked with my name called back and said the credentials were actually ready. I am heading there now to get it. I will take a photo- it feels like a historic moment.

Votes have been casted, numbers counted, and the results?

There is one thing to say, the voting for constitutional amendments were full of surprises! Well, according to the Central Electoral Commission about 90% of voters supported the amendments (surprise!) And the highest number of votes (91.87%)went of course for the amendment on the lifting the restriction on electing one person president for more than two times (double surprise!). 

The head of the Central Electoral Commission, Mazahir Panahov, further concludes that although there were some "minor" violations, overall the voting process went smooth (surprise!). Lets see how smooth things really were:

- According to Radio Liberty reports from yesterday on the voting process, a number of violations were in place: anything from not letting journalists into the polling stations to ballot stuffing and multiple voting. 

- According to the chairman of the Musavat Party, Isa Qambar, the commission didn't even meet the minimum required turnout of 25% and that the results were rigged. Less than 15% of voters showed up says Mr. Qambar. The accusations of ballot rigging were dismissed by Ali Ahmadov, deputy chairman of Yeni Azerbaijan Party (surprise again!) in the following statement: 

"They make the same kind of statements at every election. However, they always fail to present concrete facts" 

So, what do we have as a result: based on either rigged or actual numbers, the amendments passed and are deemed valid. Congratulations everyone, now we have an eternal president! Yet, I am being told to be patient and that change will come eventually! I am patient (or at least trying to) my friends, but there are limits to everything, don't you think? 

The bigger picture...

On March 18, 2009 Azerbaijan will hold a referendum on constitutional changes, which will remove a two term limit on the presidency of Azerbaijan. 

For those who are against the referendum and would like to publicly debate on the recent constitutional change, anyone (in this case the opposition) must collect 40,000 signatures according to the Central Election Committee of Azerbaijan. 

However, since nothing in Azerbaijan is done according to rules and regulations, so has this procedure also been violated. 

On January 22, Fakhreddin Abbasli- deputy head of Musavat opposition party- was arrested while he was collecting signatures. Two more people- members of Popular Front Party (PFP)- were arrested on January 21st. The charge on the basis of which these people were arrested was possession of drugs. I wonder, how a person in his 40s or 50s who has never used drugs before would suddenly decide to take drugs (unless of course, their dissatisfaction with the current state of events has reached a point, at which 'getting high' is the only possible way to avoid whatever is going on)?!

Of course the bigger picture is very simple. Drugs is only an element of divergence. I wonder how many more drug possession charges will have to be issued and what other ways of stalling people from expressing their distress will be used over the next two months?