Mehriban Aliyeva appointed First Vice-President of Azerbaijan

Mehriban Arif qizi Aliyeva, Milli Majlis (Parliament) member, has been appointed the First Vice-President of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijani President, Ilham Aliyev, signed a relevant order on Tuesday, February 21.

A referendum on introduction of constitutional amendments was held in Azerbaijan on September 26. Among other changes, it was also decided to extend presidential powers from 5 to 7 years, to reduce presidential candidates’ age qualification, as well as to introduce the posts of two vice-presidents.

Under the adopted amendments, in case of President’s early resignation, until the election of a new head of state his powers would be transferred to the First Vice-President, rather than to the Prime Minister, as it used to be before. The First Vice-President will be also entitled to sign the international documents on behalf of the state.