Azerbaijan's newly appointed prime minister and the man expected to be its next president said Friday it would be ``naive'' to believe his country could be a perfect democracy, but vowed the government will do its best to ensure upcoming presidential elections are free and fair.
| "Nope. Nope. Just can't do it. Don't even try..." |
In an interview with The Associated Press, Ilham Aliev said the health problems of his father, President Geidar Aliev, could catapult him to the presidency sooner than he would like. Both Alievs are on the ballot for October's election, but Ilham Aliev says he registered as a candidate only to assist in the campaign of his 80-year-old father, who has been hospitalized in Turkey and then in Cleveland since July 8. On Friday, the younger Aliev said he would remain on the ballot and his father would withdraw his candidacy ``only if his physical condition will not allow him to run.''
| "He's gonna try to break Strom's record..." |
However, Aliev said he was optimistic his father would emerge victorious from both his illness and the election. This month, Geidar Aliev signed a decree making his only son prime minister — the person who becomes acting president if the president dies. If Geidar Aliev does make it through another term, the ruling party says Ilham Aliev will be its candidate in 2008.
| So the fix is in, no matter what happens... |
If expectations are fulfilled, it will fall to Ilham Aliev — until this month, first vice president of the state oil company and a leading lawmaker — to guide the country as it learns to live without Geidar Aliev. Before the former KGB general and Soviet-era leader of Azerbaijan returned to power in 1993, this oil-rich Caspian Sea nation suffered from a separatist war and lawlessness.
| "Oh, what will we ever do without Geidar?" |
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