Baku, Feb 21 .- The President of Azerbaijan on Tuesday named his wife as his first vice president, just five months after creating the post in an executive decree to alter the constitution.

Ilham Aliyev, 55, who has been president of the South Caucasus republic since taking over from his father in 2003, made the announcement on the official presidency website.

First Lady and new first VP Mehriban Aliyeva, 52, is a qualified doctor who since 2005 had held a parliamentary role in the Caucasian nation.

Mehriban's ascension to the post was made possible by the constitutional alterations made by President Aliyev in Sept. 2016, which, among other things, established a new vice presidency the _ the candidates for which are to be selected by the president.

The office of Prime Minister was previously the second-in-command position in the Azerbaijani hierarchy, a role that is also appointed by the president before it is subjected to a parliamentary vote.

In the same constitutional amendment package, Aliyev extended the legal presidential term limit from five to seven years and gave the presidency the powers to call a general election.

This sparked concern among his political adversaries who fear their nation was becoming steadily more authoritarian.

One the eve of the public referendum which ratified the president's constitutional proposals last year, leader of the opposition Azerbaijani Popular Front Party, Ali Karimli, said: "The constitutional amendments seek to endorse authoritarianism and the unlimited power of a family."

He said the new amendments paved the way to power for the president's (and vice president's) 19-year-old son, Heydar Aliyev.

President Aliyev had also abolished the prerequisite minimum age for a presidential candidate, which had been 35.

Heydar was named after his much-revered grandfather who ruled the nation from 1993 to 2003, having led Soviet Azerbaijan from 1969-82.

The nation, which borders Iran, Armenia, Georgia and Russia as well as boasting a coastline on the Caspian Sea, has been classed by international human rights NGO Freedom House as "not free."

The nation's human rights record has repeatedly come under the scrutiny of the international community amid allegations that the state stifles free press and political opponents.

The majority of Azerbaijan's predominantly Shiite population are ethnic Azeris, a Turkic ethnic group.

The largest global population of Azeris, however, can be found across the border in Iran where more than 15 million live in the country's northwest, towards the border with Azerbaijan. (EFE)