First President of Azerbaijan denies rumors on possible return to power
The first president of Azerbaijan, Ayaz Mutallibov, has categorically denied rumors which have emerged in the press regarding his possible appointment to the post of prime minister of Azerbaijan.
The rumors first started to appear following the ex-president’s unexpected announcement on his readiness to support the first lady and first Vice President of Azerbaijan, Mehriban Aliyeva, at the upcoming presidential elections next year.
Many media outlets, including pro-governmental ones, suggested that this announcement is the beginning of a campaign to appoint Mutallibov as the future prime minister of Azerbaijan. According to them, the reason for this is that the incumbent PM Arthur Rasizade has already entered into advanced age, and will probably go into retirement after the elections. (Next year Rasizade turns 83 years old, and is only three years older than Mutallibov).
Those publications depict Mutallibov as ‘Russia’s protege’, and his appointment to the key position is suggested to be a curtesy towards the northern neighbor.
Ayaz Mutallibov himself called the rumours ‘nonsense’.
“Is it appropriate for me to compete for the post at my age? And I’m a not a man of Russia. Yes, I was compelled to seek shelter there, but that doesn’t mean that Russians welcomed me with flowers,” Mutallibov reported to Modern.az.
Ayaz Mutallibov became the leader of Azerbaijan during a very tough period in time, following the bloody events of January 20, 1990. In September 1991, he was elected the first president of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan’s declaration of independence was adopted during his reign.
In the wake of the Khojaly tragedy he had to resign. In May 1992, he made an unsuccessful attempt to reclaim power, but having failed he had to leave for Russia.
He returned to Azerbaijan five year ago, shortly before the Azerbaijani parliament passed a law on ‘safeguarding the President and his family members’, providing the former president with immunity against criminal prosecution. According to this law, Mutallibov receives a monthly pension equal to 50 percent of the salary of the incumbent president, while an amount equal to 20 percent of the incumbent president’s salary will be allocated for representation expenses of the ex-head of state.
