Azerbaijan president appoints wife as vice president

Ilham Aliyev names his wife Mehriban as his first vice president. The position of the second vice president remains vacant.

The Azerbaijani first lady has served as a Goodwill ambassador on behalf of her country to UNESCO and heads a charity named after her husband's late father Heydar Aliyev.
TRT World and Agencies

The Azerbaijani first lady has served as a Goodwill ambassador on behalf of her country to UNESCO and heads a charity named after her husband's late father Heydar Aliyev.

Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev has appointed his wife Mehriban to the role of first vice president. Aliyev announced her appointment in a decree published on the presidential website on Tuesday.

Voters cleared the way for the creation of the offices of vice president and first vice president in a referendum on Azerbaijan's constitution last year.

While the position of first vice president is more senior to that of vice president, it is currently unclear what duties 52-year-old Mehriban Aliyeva will undertake.

President Ilham Aliyev, who took over from his father's decade-long rule in 2003, has not appointed the other vice president as yet.

Aliyev, now three years into his third term in power, is guaranteed to stay in office at least until the next presidential election scheduled for late 2018.

The introduction of a law that allows politicians to run for president an unlimited number of times following another referendum in 2009 has paved the way for Aliyev to run for a fourth term.

Last year, Azerbaijan's highest court approved an extension to the presidential term from five years to seven years. If re-elected in 2018, the 55-year-old Aliyev could extend his rule till 2025.

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