Azeri President Ilham Aliyev's ruling party won by a landslide in last month's local vote, election officials said Tuesday, cementing his grip on power in the oil-rich ex-Soviet republic. Aliyev's ruling Yeni Azerbaijan party secured 10,431 positions of the total of 15,591 up for grabs in 1,718 municipalities, the central elections commission said in a statement. Voter turnout however was relatively low at 32.04 percent, it said. Independent candidates won 4,157 positions, while candidates from 17 other political parties filled the remaining seats. Supporters say Aliyev and his party are genuinely popular for steering the country through years of record growth and stability after the chaos of the early 1990s when Azerbaijan became independent with the collapse of the Soviet Union. Opposition parties however say authorities rigged the vote, resorting to state resources to support Aliyev's political allies, persecuting opposition supporters and controlling the media. Aliyev overwhelmingly won a second five-year term in October 2008, having taken over in 2003 from his father Heydar, a top-ranking former Soviet official and KGB member. In March, Azerbaijan voted to scrap a two-term limit on the presidency in a move critics said was aimed at extending Aliyev's hold on power. 