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Residents of a badly damaged village in central Azerbaijan who have waited four years to be resettled are hoping that they might at last be moved into the new homes they have been promised. There is a catch, though – many believe the move has been deliberately delayed to coincide with the October presidential election, as a way of effectively buying their votes, the article of Samira Ahmedbeyli published on the site of Institute for War and Peace Reporting reads (IWPR).

The article notes that the village of Muganli in the Shamakhi district, some 120 kilometres west of the capital Baku, was hit by a landslide in April 2009. At least 40 homes were badly damaged or destroyed. Soon afterwards, the authorities promised that the residents would be provided with new homes.

Since there was no sign of the promised homes being built, residents who had initially fled the village returned to live in buildings that were at imminent risk of collapse.

“If the houses are ready, why won’t they move us?” teacher Rahimova wonders.

“The election isn’t till October, but autumn and heavy rains begin after August 15 round here. There will inevitably be casualties,” another villager says.

Mehman Aliyev, who is member of NGO Kura said the tactic was a familiar one: “The authorities often engage in this kind of thing to win people’s votes,” he said.

Zahir Mammadov, who heads the local branch of the Popular Front, a leading opposition party in Azerbaijan, also believes the delay to opening the new settlement is an election ploy. According to him staff at state institutions all over Shamakhi, from local government to schools and hospitals, were being corralled into pro-Aliyev campaigning. He said they were summoned to official meetings where they were told to “keep an eye on neighbours who supported the opposition and report anyone visiting them from outside the district”.

Author says that similar stories are being heard in other areas. To the south of Shamakhi, in the Sabirabad district, eight villages have been more or less cut off from their local market town since a bridge was closed for repairs a month ago.

“The main bridge… is quite new. It only started operating a year-and-a-half ago. And they aren’t doing any repairs, just cleaning it, giving it a lick of paint and that kind of thing,” he complained. “Now they’re waiting for the president to come and open it. If that’s dragged out until the election, what are people supposed to do all that time?” wonders one of the inhabitants.

“In the capital Baku, meanwhile, a kindergarten refurbished last December remains closed because the president has not found time to come and open it,” the author writes.

Sevda Asadova, the mother of a three-year-old, said projected opening dates at New Year and then in January, May and June had come and gone, “The president never came, so the kindergarten remains closed even though it’s ready for use,” she said.
“By the end of August I was sick of waiting so I found another kindergarten for my little girl. I doubt this one will open before campaigning starts.”