Azerbaijan's 2005 Elections: Lost Opportunity

International Crisis Group

Working Papers - Programa CEI & Países Bálticos from Argentine Center of International Studies

Abstract: Before election day, some observers were suggesting that Azerbaijan was ripe for a colour revolution like those in Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan if the polling was unfair. However, the state's monopoly on power and its readiness to use force put the country in a different league. Hydrocarbon wealth provides the means to co-opt potential rivals and assure the loyalty of the governing network. The development of new political elites, independent journalists and civil society activists has been stunted. The absence of a true government-opposition dialogue and power-sharing practices has made politics a zero-sum game, played out all too often in the streets rather than in state institutions. The biggest differences between Azerbaijan and those ex-Soviet states where post-election revolutions have happened in the past two years are the lack of popular engagement in electoral politics and citizens' weak belief in their ability to effect change.

Keywords: Azerbaijan; elections. (search for similar items in EconPapers)

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