Story of a failure: The path to dynastic neopatrimonialism in Azerbaijan
Résumé
Azerbaijan, a former Soviet Republic in the South Caucasus regained independence on 18 October 1991. One month previously, the leader of the Soviet Republic, Ayaz Mutalibov, was re-elected President of Azerbaijan in a single-candidate election. Setbacks in the conflict over Azerbaijan's separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh generated popular protests which in March 1992 led to Mutalibov's resignation and the assumption of power by the Popular Front which had first emerged during the perestroika era. The Popular Front secured its grip on power and in June 1992 its leader, Abulfaz Elchibey, became Azerbaijan's first and only democratically elected President. However, the regime's legitimacy was undermined by military failures, a poor economic situation and high levels of corruption, an autocratic style, and failure to win support from key regional powers.