Arif Hajili

During the Elchibey government, Arif Hajili led the work of the local executive power structures in the position of the State Counselor for Work with Territorial Power and Management Bodies of the Republic of Azerbaijan. As the chairman of the State Food Commission, he played an important role in the country’s recovery from the food crisis. He directly participated in the organization of the defense of the territories of Aghdara, Fuzuli, Gubadli, Aghdam and other regions from the attacks of the Armenian armed forces and in some military operations. He was one of the statesmen who tried to eliminate the consequences of the June 4 uprising and organize an open resistance against the taking away of President Elchibey’s powers through the uprising. He has been a member of the Musavat Party Restoration Center since its establishment in 1992, since 1994 he has been the Secretary of Elections and Organizational Affairs of the Musavat Party, then his deputy, and since 2006 he has been the head of the Central Executive Office of the Musavat Party. Since 1998, he has been the vice-chairman of Butov Azerbaijan Union, which Elchibey founded and chaired. He was repeatedly detained and arrested as one of the main organizers of mass actions, rallies and demonstrations held in 1998 and 2000. He was one of the organizers and leader of the October 12, 2003 rally, which was the largest political action held in Azerbaijan in recent years. On October 16, 2003, he was arrested as one of the main organizers of the protest against the falsification of the results of the Presidential elections and sentenced to 5 years in prison.

In 2009, Arif Hajili led the nationwide campaign of the “Republicans” referendum group created by the Musavat party to protest against the constitutional ban on electing the President more than twice. Arif Hajili was arrested in 2011 as the main organizer of the March 12 rallies organized by the Musavat Party and the April 2 rallies organized by the Public Chamber during the period of political activity called “Arab Spring” and was again sentenced to two and a half years in prison. After serving the majority of the sentence, he was released at the request of the local and international community without writing an amnesty application. Arif Hajili was twice declared a Prisoner of Conscience by the international organization “Amnesty International”. He won against the Aliyev government twice in the European Court of Human Rights in connection with the claims he made against the Azerbaijani authorities regarding his illegal arrest in 2003 and the theft of his deputy’s mandate in 2005. was one of the chairmen. He won the presidential elections of the Musavat Party in 2014 and 2019. He is currently the head of the Musavat Party.