| WASHINGTON – The Bush administration has voiced concern over the upcoming elections in Azerbaijan. Aging current Azeri President Haydar Aliyev is rumoured to be gravely ill and near death, and the current Azeri administration is said to be now throwing its weight behind the campaign of his eldest son Ilham Aliyev.
“What we are going to see is increasing intimidation against other candidates and possible vote-rigging to ensure this administration is continued, with Aliyev’s son succeeding him in a most undemocratic manner,” said U.S. Vice President and former 1991 Bush administration defense secretary Dick Cheney. “We in the Bush Administration find these developments regrettable. Here we have an administration that is so determined to maintain power and continue their policies that they would act against democracy by supporting the president’s son in a manner that is surely more autocratic than democratic.” Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Colin Powell, Andrew H. Card, Jr., Anthony Principi, Paul Wolfowitz and others from the current and the former Bush administrations voiced their concerns of the Azeri situation.  |
| U.S. administration voices concern over Azerbaijan elections |
Tuesday, 01 July 2003 12:00
