New Political Era Dawning in Azerbaijan

One hundred and one of the 125 Milli Majlis members voted in favor of appointing Ilham Aliyev prime minister.

Although opposition parties boycotted the session, the move is widely seen as an effort to help the 41-year-old Ilham succeed his ailing 80-year-old father as president in the upcoming presidential elections set for October 15.

The appointment of Ilham Aliyev, on the proposal of his father, who is reported to be gravely ill in a Turkish hospital, means that he will take over as caretaker president if his father is deemed too sick to perform his official duties. According to Azerbaijan's Constitution, the prime minister stands in for the head of state if he is incapacitated.

It has been reported that the previous prime minister, Artur Rasizade, tendered his resignation three hours later. There are reports that Rasizade has also been ill for the past two months.

Western corporations, particularly oil companies who have poured billions of dollars into Azerbaijan to develop its oil reserves, fearing a chaotic power vacuum due to Aliyev's poor health, were relieved at the move. But opposition parties reacted to the appointment with anger.

For the impoverished nation of eight million people, Ilham Aliyev's appointment appears to be sign that the status quo will be maintained. But the trend of developments and the measures taken by opposition parties and groups indicate that they will not remain silent for long. In their first reaction to the move, Azeri opposition leaders denounced the measure and called Ilham's appointment an act against democracy.

The appointment of Ilham Aliyev, although regarded as an important move, had been predicted by many political analysts for a long time. In a short period of time, he was named deputy president of the ruling party, national Olympic committee chairman, and deputy director of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR). In recent months, he has filled in for the president in meetings with visiting foreign delegations.

In spite of the fact that the Azeri ruling party decided that Ilham Aliyev is qualified for the post, opposition figures mentioned the younger Aliyev's 1996 gambling scandal as a sign that he is unfit for office. However, some opposition leaders' ties with Western countries, in particular the United States, have aggravated the situation. The appointment of Ilham Aliyev as prime minister heralds the dawning of a new political era in Azerbaijan. 

RA/HG

End

MNA