Azerbaijani president wins over 85 pct of votes

BAKU – Azerbaijan's incumbent President Ilham Aliyev looked all set for another term after the final results of Wednesday's presidential election declared here Thursday by the Central Election Commission (CEC) showed him to have won 86.03 percent of the votes. 

His closest competitor was independent candidate Zahid Oruj, who scored 3.11 percent of the votes. There had been eight contestants in the fray. 

Aliyev made a victory address to the nation, thanking Azerbaijanis for their "support and trust". 
"Citizens of Azerbaijan have voted for security and progress," he said. 

Aliyev will now have a seven-year term as a constitutional referendum in 2016 extended the presidential term from five to seven years. It also gave the president the right to call snap elections. Enditem 
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