Azerbaijan's ruling party wins strong majority

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BAKU, Nov 8 (AFP): Azerbaijan's ruling party won a strong majority in a parliamentary vote Sunday, near complete results showed, cementing President Ilham Aliyev's grip on power after an election critics denounced as a charade.
With votes from more than 90 per cent of precincts counted, Aliyev's Yeni Azerbaijan party had won or was leading to win at least 73 seats in the country's 125-seat parliament.
Independent candidates had won or were leading in 36 seats, according to results posted on the Central Election Commission website, with the remaining seats shared between a handful of parties.
An electoral bloc that had been seen as the main opposition contender, bringing together the Azerbaijani Popular Front and Musavat parties, appeared to have won no seats, according to the results.