GOVERNMENT
Although the Government of Azerbaijan consists of three branches, Azerbaijan has a strong presidential system in which the legislative and judicial branches have only limited independence. The executive branch is made up of a president, his apparat, a prime minister, and the cabinet of ministers. The legislative branch consists of the 125-member parliament (Milli Majlis). Members, all of whom are elected from territorial districts, serve 5-year terms. The judicial branch, headed by a Constitutional Court, is nominally independent.
Azerbaijan
declared its independence from the former Soviet Union on August
30, 1991, with Ayaz Mutalibov, former First Secretary of the Azerbaijani
Communist Party, becoming the country's first President. Following
a March 1992 massacre of Azerbaijanis at Khojali in Nagorno-Karabakh
(a predominantly ethnic Armenian region within Azerbaijan), Mutalibov
resigned and the country experienced a period of political instability.
The old guard returned Mutalibov to power in May 1992, but less
than a week later his efforts to suspend scheduled presidential
elections and ban all political activity prompted the opposition
Popular Front Party (PFP) to organize a resistance movement and
take power. Among its reforms, the PFP dissolved the predominantly
Communist Supreme Soviet and transferred its functions to the
50-member upper house of the legislature, the National Council.
Elections in June 1992 resulted in the selection of PFP leader Abulfez Elchibey as the country's second President. The PFP-dominated government, however, proved incapable of either credibly prosecuting the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict or managing the economy, and many PFP officials came to be perceived as corrupt and incompetent. Growing discontent culminated in June 1993 in an armed insurrection in Ganja, Azerbaijan's second-largest city. As the rebels advanced virtually unopposed on Baku, President Elchibey fled to his native province, the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan. The National Council conferred presidential powers upon its new Speaker, Heydar Aliyev, former First Secretary of the Azerbaijani Communist Party (1969-81) and member of the U.S.S.R. Politburo and U.S.S.R. Deputy Prime Minister (until 1987). Elchibey was formally deposed by a national referendum in August 1993, and Aliyev was elected to a 5-year term as President in October with only token opposition. Aliyev won re-election to another 5-year term in 1998, in an election marred by serious irregularities. Presidential elections that took place on October 15, 2003 resulted in the election of Ilham Aliyev, the son of Heydar Aliyev. The election did not meet international standards. Ilham Aliyev assumed the office of president on October 31, 2003. Heydar Aliyev died December 12, 2003.
Azerbaijan's first parliament was elected in 1995. The present 125-member unicameral parliament was elected in November 2005 in an election that showed improvements in democratic processes, but still did not meet international standards. A majority of parliamentarians are from the President's "New Azerbaijan Party," although the 2005 elections brought in a much more diverse parliament, with up to 10 opposition members and a sizeable number of independents. Many of these independents may have close ties to government, while as many as 20 others are business leaders whose political affiliations are not clear. According to the constitution, the speaker of parliament stands next in line to the president. The parliament, however, is historically a weak body with little real influence. The Speaker is Oktay Asadov.
Government
Type: Republic.
Constitution: Approved in November 1995 referendum.
Independence: August 30, 1991 (from Soviet Union).
Branches: Executive--President (chief of state), Prime
Minister (head of government), Council of Ministers (cabinet).
Legislative--unicameral National Assembly (parliament). Judicial--Supreme
Court.
Administrative subdivisions: 78 rayons, 11 cities, and
1 autonomous republic.
Political parties: New Azerbaijan Party, Popular Front
Party, Musavat Party, National Independence Party, Civic Solidarity
Party, Social Democratic Party, Communist Party, Liberal Party,
Azerbaijan Democratic Independence Party, Islamic Party, plus
50 minor parties.
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal.
Principal
Government Officials
President--Ilham Aliyev
Prime Minister--Artur Rasizade
Foreign Minister--Elmar Mammadyarov
Ambassador to the U.S.--Yashar Aliyev
Ambassador to the UN--Agshin Mehdiyev
Azerbaijan's
embassy in the United
States is at 2741 34th Street NW, Washington, DC 20008; tel (202)
337-3500; fax (202) 337-5911
