Politics of Azerbaijan

The politics of Azerbaijan take place within an authoritarian system characterized by limited political pluralism and restrictions on civil liberties. According to international organizations such as Freedom House, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch, elections in Azerbaijan are not considered free or fair, political opposition faces repression, and human rights abuses are widespread. Power is largely concentrated in the hands of President Ilham Aliyev and members of his extended family.

Azerbaijan is nominally a semi-presidential republic, with the President of Azerbaijan as the head of state, and the Prime Minister of Azerbaijan as head of government. Executive power is exercised by the president and the government. Checks and balances are nominally ensured by the legislature (Azerbaijan's National Assembly) and the Judiciary but both institutions are in practice firmly controlled by the executive.

The politics of Azerbaijan have since 1969 been dominated by the Aliyev family. Heydar Aliyev governed Soviet Azerbaijan from 1969 to 1982 as First Secretary of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan, and as President of Azerbaijan from 1993 to 2003 after seizing power in the aftermath of a 1993 military coup. Ilham Aliyev, Heydar's son, was installed as president in 2003.

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