Thousands of angry demonstrators crammed a square in Azerbaijan’s capital today to protest over alleged fraud in last weekend’s parliamentary elections, demonstrating the opposition’s peaceful intentions.

Azerbaijan’s opposition, emboldened by international criticism of the parliamentary vote and the government decision to annul the count in two districts, prepared for a massive protest rally tomorrow that it hopes will give it irreversible momentum.

The ruling party took the lead in Azerbaijan’s parliamentary election according to the official vote count and exit polls, but rights groups and monitors reported irregularities and the opposition vowed to fight to overturn what it called fraudulent results.

Azerbaijan’s ruling party looks likely to return to power, according to incomplete results today from an election that the opposition has branded fraudulent.

AZERBAIJANIS voted yesterday in a crucial parliamentary election they hoped would give them a voice in this oil-rich former Soviet republic that has been run by the same family for years, but the opposition alleged massive fraud that could taint the results.