Aliyev Appoints Wife as First Vice President of Azerbaijan

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has appointed his wife as first vice president, a newly created post that puts her first in line to take over if he dies or is incapacitated.

Aliyev's order on the appointment of his wife, Mehriban Aliyeva, was posted on the presidential website on February 21. The positions of first vice president and two lower-tier vice presidents were among the constitutional amendments introduced in a referendum in the tightly controlled Caspian Sea country in September 2016.

The constitution now stipulates that if the president becomes incapable of discharging his duties, the first vice president takes over. Before the referendum, it was the prime minister.

The referendum was challenged by opposition politicians and activists who said that it tightened Aliyev's grip on power in the oil-rich former Soviet republic, which he has ruled since he succeeded his father in 2003.

The referendum also extended the length of presidential terms from five years to seven years and scrapped an age requirement for candidates, sparking speculation that Aliyev was grooming his son Heidar, who was 19 years old at the time, to eventually become president.

Mehriban Aliyeva, 52, is a deputy chairwoman of the ruling New Azerbaijan Party. She is also the head of the Heidar Aliyev Foundation -- a large nongovernmental organization named after her husband's father, who ruled newly independent Azerbaijan with an iron fist in 1993-2003. He died in December 2003, two months after steering his son into the presidency, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reports.