Fahredina Aboszoda: Ilham Aliyev was born a weak child
“In Azerbaijan, only few know that Ilham [Aliyev] was born as a child with physical weaknesses, and it took a long time to treat him and to put him on his feet. His whole life he spent without a hitch. At school he was not special in anything. It remains a mystery for many people whether he went to school at all,” the article published on the website of IA “REX” by Fahreddin Aboszoda says.
In 1993 Heydar Aliyev became President of Azerbaijan and appointed his son, Ilham Aliyev, the Vice-President of the State Oil Company of the Republic. Before his death, Heydar Aliyev in some miraculous way managed to nominate Ilham Aliyev as the Prime Minister of Azerbaijan, which allowed him to become acting President after his father's death. Thus, in October 2003 he became president of Azerbaijan.
During the first years of his presidency, Aliyev tried to present himself in a best way, and positioned himself as a liberal-reformer. He promised the people to carry out radical reforms in the economy and the social spheres and to modernize the system of government in the country. But as it was expected, his promises remained only on paper, the article says.
Instead, according to Baku analyst Zafar Guliyev, during the presidency of Ilham Aliyev pseudo-democratic regime in Azerbaijan was transformed into authoritarian police regime, togather with the executive power and by fully eaten up legislative and judicial authorities, with mobilized and shadowed economy gravitating to the primitive personality cult and to the totalitarian Soviet practice. “Not the power of law are characteristic to such a regime but the law of power, not the dictatorship of the law, but the law of the dictatorship, not the interests of the person but the personal interests,” analyst says.
The author notes that within 10 years of ruling of Ilham Aliyev, the clan, founded by Heydar Aliyev’s efforts, was split into warring factions, which no longer obeyed Ilham Aliyev as soon as they replenish their wealth. One of the strongest clans of that time was “Pashayevs’ ” which consisted of relatives of Ilham Aliyev’s wife - Mehriban Aliyeva. Using Ilham’s weakness, these groups clearly divided the country into areas of influences, which includes a number of regions, the heads of which are close relatives or particularly close fellows of the owner of this group,” the article says.
“During two presidential terms Ilham Aliyev almost didn’t keep any of his promises given to people. Country was in corruption up to ears. The main corruptionist, according to a number of influential organizations, became the president himself,” the article says.
The author notes that the world knows quite well in what condition the economy and the social sphere in Azerbaijan are. “All this could not last forever. The stormy protests in various parts of the country, by which the beginning of 2013 became so remarkable, are the bright confirmation of it. Now Aliyev is in panic. He tries to carry out some cosmetic measures to save his government somehow. Recently, he released the leaders of some regions,” the author writes.
Aboszoda notes that, by the recognition of most analysts of Baku, Aliyev is not going to change the system itself, and actually it is too late to do that; people are not going to bear this government anymore as the latter is completely exhausted.
Touching upon the results in Ilham Aliyev's foreign policy the author notes that unlike his father, President Aliyev has done everything possible to spoil relations with everyone during the recent years. Aliyev carries out an openly hostile policy towards its neighbors Russia and Iran. By the overthrow of Saakashvili's party in Georgia Aliyev lost his last ally in the region. Turkey is displeased by Aliyev’s support shown towards the Kurdish rebels and the disgraced Turkish generals.
The author notes that petrodollars allowed Ilham Aliyev’s team to bribe many politicians and journalists in the West, who upheld his policy. But this came to its end too. Numerous publications in the Western media over the last years, statements of many politicians, in which Ilham Aliyev is accused in all spheres, clearly show that the West is not going to continue to tolerate Aliyev’s authoritarian regime. “National uprisings that started earlier this year in Azerbaijan, in some sense, meant “the social end” of Ilham Aliyev’s power,” Fahredina Aboszoda sums up.