Azeri leader appoints first lady as vice-president
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has appointed his socialite wife Mehriban Aliyeva as the vice-president of the oil-rich Caspian Sea country.
Mehriban Aliyeva "is appointed the first vice-president of the Republic of Azerbaijan," the president said in a Tuesday decree on his website.
Aliyeva, 52, has been a ruling Yeni Azerbaijan party legislator since 2005 and heads the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, an influential charity organization.
The appointment comes following constitutional changes made after a tightly-managed referendum in 2016 which, among other things, introduced the influential position of first vice-president.
The new vice-president has sometimes been viewed as a potential successor to her husband, who came to power in 2003 after the death of his father Heydar, a former KGB officer and Communist-era boss.
Azerbaijan's embattled opposition slammed Aliyeva’s promotion as undemocratic, stressing that the appointment is a tactic to cement the Aliyev family's grip over the country.
“The move throws Azerbaijan back to medieval, feudal times… Family rule has no place in the 21st century," said opposition leader Isa Gambar of Musavat opposition party.
While government supporters have praised the Aliyevs for turning a country once considered a Soviet backwater into a prosperous energy supplier to Europe, critics argue that the ruling family has suppressed all opposition and abused power.
In May 2016, Human Rights Watch lashed out at Baku for a ruthless crackdown on political activists and critical journalists.
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