Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev appoints his wife as country's new vice president

PRESIDENT Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan has appointed his wife Mehriban to serve as his deputy tightening his grip on the country’s leadership amid claims that he is planning for her to succeed him in office.

Earlier today in a shock move, President Ilham named Mehriban as vice president cementing the leadership of the oil-rich country in his family. Mehriban, 52, is a member of parliament who trained as a medical doctor and is the head of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, a non-governmental organisation.

Since coming to office in October 2003, President Ilham after he succeeded his father, President Aliyev won both the 2008 and the 2013 elections with more than 85% of the vote, with the opposition largely boycotting the 2008 poll. His latest move to appoint his wife to the vice presidency is seen as a plot to have her succeed him in the presidency.

In September, President Aliyev organised a referendum which created a strong vice presidency and extended the presidential term to seven years, from five. In 2013, the US State Department in described the presidential elections as not meeting international standards but despite this, President Aliyev went ahead and won the 2018 presidential elections with 86.02% of the vote.