Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev has appointed his wife as the first vice president tightening the family’s grip on the oil-rich Caspian nation.
Appointment of Mehriban Aliyeva on Tuesday follows constitutional changes made after a tightly-managed referendum last year that introduced the powerful position of first vice president, the second most senior official in the country.
Aliyeva, 52, has been an MP for the ruling Yeni Azerbaijan party since 2005 and head of the influential Heydar Aliyev Foundation – named after her father-in-law and former president.
ALSO READ: George Clooney slams Donald Trump as ‘Hollywood elitist’
Ilham Aliyev, 55, has been accused by right groups and Western governments of persecuting opposition politicians, human rights defenders, and journalists, and of enhancing his power through elections and referendums that have not been deemed free or fair by international observers. He also faces allegations of nepotism and corruption within his family.
ALSO READ: More sustainable energy could be produced with new hydronium-ion battery
The positions of first vice president and two lower-tier vice presidents were among the constitutional amendments approved in a referendum in tightly controlled Azerbaijan in September 2016.
The referendum was challenged by opposition politicians and activists who argued that it tightened Aliyev’s grip on power in the oil-rich former Soviet republic of 9.9 million.