This situation is familiar to Russians. The health of Boris Yeltsin and Yevgeny Primakov had once made front-page news for quite a long period of time. However, none of them had been receiving treatment abroad for so long.

The Azeri opposition is right to demand that the president be shown to the public, alive or dead, while associates of the former KGB chief in Baku accuse the opposition of “lack of tact and speculations”.

Successor of his father’s cause Ilkham Aliyev, recently appointed prime minister, reassures his fellow countrymen that the incumbent has nearly recovered and will soon , in just “another two or three weeks”, come back home. Interesting, the statement about the improving health of his ailing father was made by the head of the Azeri government and Geidar Aliyev’s main rival in the upcoming presidential elections not in Baku but in neighboring Turkey. Judging by reports of the pro-government press, Ilkham has played the role of anxious son well and Turkey has promised to support his candidacy.

But that is not the only issue that grips the country. A scandal has flared up in Baku these days around another presidential candidate, Khafiz Gadzhiyev. This man much resembles the notorious bad boy of Russian politics, known for his passion to make rows and epater the public and at the same time going along with the course pursued by the government. Recently, Gadzhiev (nicknamed “Fish”) has accused Ali Kerimli, a candidate for presidency of the opposition party “People’s Front of Azerbaijan”, of being homosexual. The trouble is that the hot-headed Azeri opposition has not yet learned not to take seriously the leader of the “Muasir Musavat” (Modern Equality) party, Khafiz Gadzhiyev, and to treat him as it should be: like a clown. As a result of his insulting statement, Baku has turned into a real battlefield between Gadzhiyev’s camp and Kerimli’s supporters.

Thus, a few days ago televised debates between Gadzhiyev and Kerimli’s supporter Fuad Mustafayev had to be interrupted after the opponents exchanged insults and Mustafayev hurled a glass of water at Gadzhiyev on television. The latter then lodged a complaint with police that immediately brought a criminal charge of hooliganism against Mustafayev. On the evening of September 8, Mustafayev accompanied by a group of journalists and his party activists came to the police station. But they were not let in. Police urged them to disperse. A squabble followed, and then deputy chief of the Baku metropolitan police Yashar Aliyev pounced on journalists with his fists. Having hit Meting Yasharogly, a correspondent of “Zerkalo” newspaper, Aliyev ordered to “chuck them out to the world’s end”. His subordinates rushed enthusiastically to carry out his order. As a result, several people sustained beating: Manaf Guliyev, a cameraman of “Internews” TV channel; Rei Kerimogly, editor of the newspaper “Milli Iol” (National Path); Myushfig Abdullayev, a “Bu Gyun” (Today) newspaper reporter and others. Police also seized from the “Internews” cameraman his videotape footage.

Later in the day supporters of the opposition candidates for presidency requested of the Central Election Commission to cancel registration of Gadzhiyev as presidential candidate. But Mazakhir Panakhov who chairs the Commission refused even to put this question on the agenda. Opposition members of the Commission left the conference room in an act of protest.

The election campaign in Azerbaijan takes its normal course: police detain and beat opposition activists and journalists, and the president stays away from all this because he is undergoing medical treatment and to worry is bad for his health.