President shifts priorities

He replaced the 73-year-old Novruz Mammedov, who, according to the official interpretation, resigned by his own will. If to take into account that in a country like Azerbaijan, only the first person in the ruling elite has the will, this version of the change of head of government does not look convincing.

More convincing is the version that the president made a decision to change priorities in his policy, where basic security and development do not come to replace the security and stability of the superstructure of the power vertical.

After the appointment of Novruz Mammedov as prime minister on April 21, 2018, we wrote, "this procedure, including the current representative status of the head of government, and the personality of Mammedov, indicates that the issue of security and stability of the highest authority remains a priority on relation to the economy."

Since 2002, the Prime Minister has become the second person in the state, and his main mission was to replace the head of state in the event of force majeure, to carry out the following procedures in the framework of the tasks set by the president and his real receiver, and not the nominal receiver, which was the prime minister.

After 2016, when the post of vice president was introduced, after which the political function of the prime minister somewhat lost its significance, although not completely to this day.

Mehriban Aliyeva, who was appointed as the first vice president on February 21, 2017, became the real successor. However, in order to establish fully herself in this status, she had to implement a whole package of measures to strengthen her influence and establish parallel control, along with the president, over various areas, especially the socio-economic ones, which were included in her supervision.

In this regard, in the context of strengthening the position of the First Vice President today, the implementation of the tasks outlined in 12 strategic roadmaps of economic development and others, which were adopted in December 2016 but are poorly implemented due to the lack of a competent prime minister, comes to the fore today.

The fact that the socio-economic aspects of domestic politics come to the fore indicate the growth of open dissatisfaction with the social situation of society. After a protest rally on January 19 of this year, the president took quite a few measures to reduce social tension. However, the state of the economy, which is developing in small drafts with enormous human and material potential, requires the adoption of more decisive measures and the optimization of financial and human resources.

Ali Asadov, who has been the Assistant of the president for economic issues during 20 years, is considered to have been a success in controlling financial matters and promoting significant projects for Aliyev in various fields. At least, his experience can bring a business stream to the activities of the government. However, with all this, as a long ally of the presidents the Aliyevs, Asadov retains the political significance of his prime ministerial position as a third party in the state hierarchy.