Azerbaijan: an area of darkness

Some 5 million Azerbaijani citizens will be called Sunday to elect 125 members of Parliament from a list of almost 1,200 candidates. This large number of candidates does not mean the voters will be able to make a free and informed choice.

Elections in this country, which sits on rich reserves of natural resources at the crossroads of Europe and Asia, have been marred by fraud and irregularities since the country became independent in 1991.

Both the latest parliamentary elections in 2010 ........