MOSCOW - The Central Election Commission of Azerbaijan has cancelled the results of the country’s recent presidential election in 694 polling stations. This decision was made on Monday evening.

According to Inglab Nasirov, Secretary of the Central Election Commission, the 694 polling stations are situated in 115 electoral districts, and 600,000 votes there were cast for Ilham Aliyev, son of ailing President Heydar Aliyev. The election was monitored by 44,000 observers, of whom more than 42,000 were local residents. Citing international observers, Mr. Nasirov said that the votes were counted in accordance with law and without violations, but there were problems with the writing of voting protocols.

According to the Trend news agency, Mr. Nasirov said it was normal that Ilham Aliyev had gathered 100 percent of the vote in 15 polling stations in the country’s military units.

According to the latest information of the Central Election Committee of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev (from the ruling party Yeni Azerbaijan) had 79.53 percent (about 2.438m votes). His rival Isa Gambar, the leader of the opposition party Musavat, had 12.14 percent (372,385 votes). There are about 4.383m eligible voters in Azerbaijan. The turnout was 71.56 percent (about 3.333 people).

Massive clashes broke out in the Azeri capital Baku on October 16, after the results of the country’s presidential election were announced. In the afternoon, some 300-400 activists started a rally in central Baku, chanting Gambar’s name and demanding the resignation of Ilham Aliyev. The members of the Musavat party said they would continue protests until Isa Gambar came to power. After that, they moved towards the headquarters of the Musavat party, which was cordoned off by the police. Protesters made their way through central Baku, throwing rocks and smashing cars and shop windows as they went. About 30 buses and trucks carrying interior troops and police were sent to the scene. Rioters started clashing with them and managed to force back part of the troops, moving towards Svoboda (Liberty) Square. Later, the Azeri authorities took control of the situation. According to unconfirmed reports, hundreds of people were wounded in the riots, and five or six people were killed.