Eurasia Insight:
HEIDAR ALIYEV FORMALLY WITHDRAWS FROM AZERBAIJAN’S PRESIDENTIAL RACE
10/02/03

With two weeks to go until Azerbaijan’s presidential election, ailing President Heidar Aliyev has bowed to reality, withdrawing his candidacy and endorsing his son, Ilham, who is also a ruling party candidate. In a prepared statement, President Aliyev admitted that his ongoing health problems would prevent him from fulfilling the duties of chief executive.

The formal announcement of Heidar Aliyev’s withdrawal came during the nightly news broadcast on state television on October 2. According to the statement read by the state TV announcer, Aliyev said his son was the only viable option in the October 15 election. “[Ilham] possesses high intellectual skills, pragmatic thinking ability outstanding knowledge of contemporary world political and economic affairs, and is energetic,” the statement said.

Reacting to the announcement, one of the two leading opposition candidates, the Musavat Party’s Isa Gambar, hailed the end of Heidar Aliyev’s tenure, saying the president’s authoritarian ruling style had stifled Azerbaijan’s democratic development. Gambar called on Azerbaijanis to “open up a new chapter in our history” by voting for the opposition in the upcoming election.

The opposition candidate went on to attack Ilham Aliyev, now the sole presidential candidate of the ruling New Azerbaijani Party. “Can we entrust our lives and the future of this country to a gambler,” Gambar said, referring to the widely circulating allegation in Azerbaijan that Ilham has led a playboy lifestyle. “The answer is no.”

Gambar made his comments on state television just an hour after the announcement of Aliyev’s withdrawal, utilizing his 10 minutes of air time afforded every presidential candidate under Azerbaijani election law.

Many political observers view Ilham as the overwhelming favorite to win the election. However, Gambar and the other leading opposition candidate, Etibar Mamedov, both maintain that the only way that the younger Aliyev can win is by resorting to electoral fraud. [For additional information see the Eurasia Insight archive].

Aliyev’s formal withdrawal does not come as a shock. The president has not been seen in public for two months, and is now receiving treatment at the Cleveland Clinic. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. He reportedly suffers from serious heart and kidney ailments.

Most political observers in Baku had long believed Heidar Aliyev’s tenure was nearing its end. Presidential aides, however, had been reluctant to admit reality. As recently as late September, some in Aliyev’s inner circle insisted that the president would return to Azerbaijan in October in time to campaign for reelection.

A central theme of Ilham Aliyev’s campaign has been continuity. At a ceremony marking the opening of an Azerbaijani-German pipe manufacturing plant, Ilham Aliyev indicated that his election would ensure strong trade relations with Western nations. “The new oil strategy of Azerbaijan, established by President Heidar Aliyev, has been [based on] the country’s openness for foreign investment and the establishment of a favorable environment for large businesses,” the Turan news agency quoted Ilham as saying in an October 2 report. “I can confirm that this strategy will be applied in the future.”