New Prime Minister appointed in Azerbaijan

 Ali Asadov has been appointed the new Prime Minister of Azerbaijan.

His predecessor, 72-year-old Novruz Mammadov, retired one and a half years after his appointment.

• Op-ed: why controversial ex interior minister Gakharia was appointed PM

 Who is Ali Asadov

 Ali Asadov is 63 years old.

 Born in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, graduated from the Moscow Institute of National Economy.

 In 1995 he became an MP;

 in 1998 – adviser to the president on economic issues;

 in 2012 – deputy head of the presidential administration.

 Ali Asadov’s candidacy for the post of prime minister was put forward by President Ilham Aliyev, and the parliament unanimously approved it.

 Thus, Ali Asadov became the twelfth prime minister of independent Azerbaijan.

Significance

 Azerbaijan is a presidential republic.  That is, in fact, nothing depends on the Prime Minister.  Therefore, the new appointment did not cause any special excitement in the society, nor expectations.

 Parliament Speaker Oktay Asadov is confident that “the appointment of Ali Asadov as Prime Minister will be successful for our country and people.”

 MP Vahid Akhmedov hopes that this appointment will contribute to the economic development of Azerbaijan, and asks the new prime minister to pay attention to the non-oil sector.

 Natig Jafarli, an economist and member of the opposition REAL party, considers the situation surrounding the appointment of thr new prime minister unhealthy:

  “In any country, when serious personnel changes take place, this is accompanied by discussions and a certain “seething”.  And we have formed such a strange, inexplicable system that when the Prime Minister is changed there is no discussion, no analysis, no reaction of the economy, nothing.”

 And former prisoner of conscience Seymour Khazi recalls suspicious stories related to Asadov:

 “When Ali Asadov was treated in Israel, the local left-leaning media wrote about his two-day disappearance.  In addition, he turned the ship “Koroghlu” owned by the Navy, into his own personal restaurant. In general, it’s clear that his past is dark. ”