People in Azerbaijan have started voting in parliamentary elections while the main opposition parties have boycotted the polls amid a state crackdown on activists.

Polling stations opened at 08:00 a.m. local time (0400 GMT) on Sunday and will close at 07:00 p.m. local time (1500 GMT) in the former Soviet Union country.

According to the Central Election Commission of Azerbaijan, some 5.2 million Azeri citizens are eligible to take part in the polls in the mainly Muslim country of over 9 million people.

A total of 13 parties and one bloc are competing for a five-year term in the 125-seat single-house legislature.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe has refrained from sending observers to Sunday’s elections, citing restrictions imposed on its monitoring mission by the authorities in Azerbaijan.

Leading opposition parties, including the National Council of Democratic Forces, the Musavat Party and the Azerbaijan Democratic Party, have refused to stand in the polls.

The ruling New Azerbaijan party, led by President Ilham Aliyev, has vowed that the elections will be fully democratic. The party is widely expected to retain its majority in the parliament in the oil-reach Caucasian state.

“We got 71 (out of 125) seats at the previous election and we have every chance to repeat that victory this time," said Ali Akhmedov, the governing party's executive secretary.

Oppositions and human rights groups accuse the Azeri government of curbing freedoms and of silencing dissent, but Baku denies the claims.

Earlier this week, Human Rights Watch said Azeri authorities had convicted or imprisoned at least 35 journalists and activists in 2014.