Azerbaijan ruling party wins vote boycotted by opposition

Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev's ruling party on Sunday won a majority of seats in parliamentary polls boycotted by the mainstream opposition, according to an exit poll.

The ruling Yeni (New) Azerbaijan party has won easily enough seats for a majority in the 125-seat parliament, according to the exit poll, conducted by the local pollster, ELS Independent Research Centre.

Ali Akhmedov, deputy prime minister and a top party leader, said his party was confident of victory and "expects to win at least 70 seats in the parliament."

International rights groups have cast doubt on the vote, accusing the government of jailing political opponents on trumped-up charges and limiting parties' ability to campaign in the ex-Soviet state.

The tightly controlled Caucasus nation's leading opposition parties, including the National Council of Democratic Forces (NCDF), the Musavat party, and the Democratic Party of Azerbaijan, all boycotted the poll.

Yeni Azerbaijan had vowed the election would be flawless.

None of the elections held in Azerbaijan since Aliyev came to power in 2003 has been recognised as free and fair by international observers.

More than 700 candidates from around a dozen parties were standing for the parliament, to be elected for a five-year term.

Over 5.9 million people were registered to vote.

Caption : Supporters of the Musavat (Equality) Party raise their fists and chant slogans