President Aliyev's party seen easily winning election in Azerbaijan

President Ilham Aliyev's ruling party is poised to sweep the board in a parliamentary election in Azerbaijan on Nov. 1, a vote the mainstream opposition and international monitors are shunning. 

Aliyev has consolidated his power since succeeding his father and long-serving leader Heydar in 2003, presiding over a period when officials say revenues from rising oil and gas exports have delivered better living standards. 

Rights groups accuse the government of curbing freedoms and of silencing dissent, while the opposition complains of harassment, a lack of access to air time, and draconian restrictions on campaigning. 

The government denies wrongdoing, and Western governments, who are courting Azerbaijan as an alternative source of oil and gas to Russia, balance their criticism over human rights with strategic considerations. 

Azerbaijan is host to oil majors including BP, ExxonMobil and Chevron. 

"We got 71 (out of 125) seats at the previous election and we have every chance to repeat that victory this time," Ali Akhmedov, the executive secretary of the ruling Yeni Azerbaijan (New Azerbaijan) Party, said. 

The mainstream opposition in Azerbaijan, a mainly Muslim country of about 9 million people, sandwiched between Iran, Russia and Turkey, is boycotting the poll. 

"The pre-election period was marred by massive violations. That's why we decided not to participate," opposition Musavat Party leader, Arif Gajily, told Reuters. 

Several rights activists and journalists have been jailed this year. They include Leyla Yunus, the head of the Baku-based Institute for Peace and Democracy, and Khadija Ismayilova, a prominent journalist from the U.S. government-funded radio station Radio Free Europe/Radio...