Few at anti- vote rally
Azeri opposition draws 15,000, not 50,000, to protest Hopes for Orange Revolution move to Saturday demo
BAKU— Thousands of protestors marched peacefully through Azerbaijan’s capital yesterday as the opposition began its campaign to overturn weekend elections that foreign observers declared fraudulent, but the rally didn’t draw the huge numbers organizers sought. A forest of orange flags filled Baku’s Victory Square, as about 15,000 people chanted “Freedom!” and demanded Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev step down. Opposition leaders had hoped to attract 30,00050,000 to rally in a bid to build momentum for a Ukraine- style Orange Revolution. They vowed to hold a larger protest Saturday.
“ The people of Azerbaijan deserve democracy and our struggle will not end until we have achieved victory,” Ali Kerimli, leader of the Popular Front party, a member of the opposition Azadliq( Freedom) bloc, told the crowd. “ We must show the world that we are willing to continue our struggle.”
Sardar Jalaloglu, deputy head of the Democratic Party, said the opposition would give the government a chance to correct its mistakes. “If the authorities don’t respect the will of the people . . . we will go into the streets and demand the complete resignation of the government.”
Jalaloglu called for U. S. President George W. Bush and European leaders to back the opposition. “The Azerbaijani people want freedom. Support us.” The opposition in this Muslim country of 8 million is demanding a fresh vote after reports of widespread fraud during parliamentary elections Sunday. The vote handed a huge parliamentary majority to Aliyev’s supporters and only a handful of seats to the opposition. So far, election officials have said they will cancel results in only two of 125 constituencies and order a recount in a third. Two regional governors were fired for interfering in the vote. The opposition hopes to match the popular uprisings that toppled authoritarian regimes in other ex- Soviet republics Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan after flawed elections. But it remained unclear yesterday whether the opposition had the stamina or popular support to pull off a revolution, with authorities willing to use force against demonstrations and few signs of Western support for an uprising.
Revolution sits ill with international oil companies that have invested billions in tapping the oil- rich country’s reserves. The United States sees Azerbaijan, the only Muslim state to send troops to occupy Iraq, as an ally in containing Iran.
Several hundred riot police in body armour clutched truncheons on the sidelines of yesterday’s protest. Unauthorized rallies before the vote were violently broken up by police. Yesterday, activists filed out of the square at the scheduled time. Some wanted to stay but were told to leave. “ We will tell you when it will be necessary to put up the tents,” Isa Gambar, leader of the Musavat ( Equality) party, told the crowd, referring to the tent city that sprung up in central Kiev during Ukraine’s Orange Revolution.