Mirzy Amirbeyzov

**Mirzy Halim Amirbeyzov** MP (*amer-BEY-zov, AMUR-bey-shof*, *p. English, Salvanian*, b. March 17, 1972) is a Salvanian politician and economist who has served as the president of Salva since 10 January 2015. A member of the Liberal Coalition, Amirbeyzov has served as a representative for the Liberal Coalition since 2003.

Amirbeyzov began his career as a professor of economics at the National University of Salvadoro, but later left in 2002 to pursue a career in politics. Amirbeyzov was a member of the Liberal Party before its 1998 merger with the Freedom Party into the Liberal Coalition. Amirbeyzov was a member of the Kuznechova Group from 1990 to 1997 during the Soviet Civil War, and remained a member until Salva obtained full independence from Iran in 1997. He was assigned the rank of chief warrant officer, and maintained this rank until the dissolution of the Kuznechova Group in 1997.

Amirbeyzov was first elected to Nasimi in 2003 and served as Shadow Minister of Finance from 2003 to 2009, and Shadow Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2009 to 2013. Following Bahadur Nizamili's resignation as party leader in 2012, Amirbeyzov won the party leadership election with 72% of the vote, and subsequently became leader of the opposition. On 1 January 2015, Amirbeyzov was elected president with 52.3% of the vote, defeating Conservative president Azad Gasimov.

During his presidency, Amirbeyzov has committed multiple reforms to the Salvanian economy and social system, also pursuing a foreign policy of friendly relations with the European Union and NATO. Amirbeyzov has signed numerous free trade agreements, with the most notable being the Salvanian Trade and Investment Agreement. In 2022, following the Iranian invasion of Salva, Amirbeyzov was praised for leading the country to a swift victory.

## Personal life

Amirbeyzov was born in Baku, Soviet Union on 17 March 1972. Amirbeyzov attended the National University of Salvadoro and graduated with a PhD in economics, and later worked as an professor of economics at the university level. Amirbeyzov is married to Elizaveta Amirbeyzov, with whom he has a daughter named Galia. Amirbeyzov is a protestant Christian.

## Political career

### Early political career

#### Liberal Party membership (1997-1998)

Amirbeyzov was a member of the Liberal Party briefly before its merger into the Liberal Coalition. Amirbeyzov was an active campaigner for the Liberal Party during this time, and was active in various projects and debates. He was a prominent figure in the student movement, and often spoke in favour of freedom of speech and democratic values at universities in the region.

#### Liberal Coalition membership (1998-2002)

Amirbeyzov was, afterwards, active in the politics of the Liberal Coalition and continued his ideological studies and presentations as a professor. He began to campaign for the coalition's candidates and, by the end of 2000, was working as a senior advisor to the minister of foreign affairs. Amirbeyzov resigned his advisor position in 2002, expressing interest to run for political office himself.

### Federal politics and shadow ministry

#### Member of Parliament

Amirbeyzov was successfully greenlit to run as the Liberal Coalition candidate in the electoral district of Nasimi. Following the summoning of the 2003 general election, Amirbeyzov won his seat with 65.35% of the vote, though the Liberal Coalition would ultimately lose the election to the Conservative Front.

#### Shadow Minister of Finance (2003-2009)

Amirbeyzov served in the shadow cabinet of Bahadur Nizamili as shadow minister of finance from 2003 until a cabinet shuffle in 2009. During his time as shadow minister, Amirbeyzov put forth several opposition bills in economics and was opposition critic to finance minister Nikhad Aleksandrov.

#### Shadow Minister of Foreign Affairs (2009-2013)

Amirbeyzov was reassigned as the shadow minister of foreign affairs from 2009 to 2013 after a shadow cabinet shuffle, in which time he often criticized the Gasimov government's handling of international relations, notably of those with Russia.

#### Liberal Coalition leadership election (2013)

*(Main article)*

Following the Liberal Coalition's loss in the 2009 election, Bahadur Nizamili would shortly after resign as leader of the party in 2012. Amirbeyzov entered the race for party leadership in late 2012, in which he would ultimately win. Amirbeyzov ran against three other candidates, and attained 72.32% of the popular vote. He was officially declared the winner on 10 February 2013. Amirbeyzov fronted a progressive and socially liberal platform, which involved support for abortion, LGBT rights, and expanded welfare programs.

#### Leader of the Opposition (2013-2015)

Amirbeyzov served as leader of the opposition from his election as party leader to the 2015 general election. On 24 February 2013, Amirbeyzov put forth a major shadow cabinet reshuffle that would be the only reshuffle during his opposition leadership. Amirbeyzov maintained prominence and popularity through his leadership, pushing the Liberals above the Conservatives in 2014.

### Presidency

#### First term (2015-2021)

On 1 January 2015, Amirbeyzov was elected president of Salva with 52.3% of the vote, defeating Conservative president Azad Gasimov. He was inaugurated on 10 January 2015 and subsequently formed the 4th Salvanian parliament into session.

In 2015, Amirbeyzov enacted several bills that saw major change in social and economic policies, including a major overhaul of the country's security system. In 2016, Salva joined the Eastern Partnership, a European Union-led trade bloc for European and former Soviet states, along with codifying freedom of identity as a constitutional right, which secured the protection of gender identity and freedom of sexuality as human rights.

In 2018, Amirbeyzov's government presented and passed the Neutrality Act, which instated Salva as a militarily neutral state, unless attacked. This notably began the start of short lived nationwide protests.

Tensions between the Iranian State and Salva began to rise in 2019 following the detention of several illegal Iranian immigrants by Salvanian border authorities, who suspected them of being spies. Iran's leader Hamidreza Bahadori publicly condemned the detentions, and closed the border with Salva. Amirbeyzov responded by proclaiming Salva's neutrality, but promised to protect the rights and safety of its citizens.

In 2020, Amirbeyzov focused on curbing the spread of COVID-19 in the country by contributing to vaccine research and enacting restriction policies. Shortly before the 2021 general election, Amirbeyzov announced his intention to run for a second term, thus remaining as leader of the Liberal Coalition.

#### Second term (2021-2022)

Amirbeyzov formally called the 2021 election on 1 October 2020, and campaigned on a similar platform to 2015, but with a higher focus on curbing the spread of COVID-19, reducing government spending, and improving economic conditions. Amirbeyzov secured a second term with 52.1% of the vote, a 0.2% decrease from 2015, though gained a larger majority due to a weakened Conservative Front. Amirbeyzov's second term lasted only a year and a half, due to increasing tensions with Iran eventually resulting in a snap election in August of 2022.

#### Iranian invasion and third term (2022-)

In mid 2022, tensions with Iran reached an all time high. As a response to Iranian aggression, Amirbeyzov passed a motion with the Caucasian United Front on a total embargo on Iran, marking the first time such articles had been used. Iran formally declared war on Salva on 10 June 2022, in which Amirbeyzov was quick to mobilize the military.

In a televised speech on 14 June 2022, Amirbeyzov announced a successful operation that resulted in the assassination of Iranian leader Hamidreza Bahadori. Iran surrendered on 1 July 2022. Amirbeyzov was quickly praised for his work, and during this time, saw the highest approval rating of any Salvanian leader, at 93.25%.

The Magizhatsti voted unanimously in confidence of Amirbeyzov on 1 July 2022, and later was ordered dissolution in a public vote of confidence, thus starting a one-month long election campaign period. On 1 August, Amirbeyzov secured a 213 seat majority in the Magizhatsti, which later resulted in the resignation of Conservative Front leader Elariz Saleh. Amirbeyzov vowed to uphold much of his original platform from 2021, including an immediate raise in defence spending. On 22 June 2022, Amirbeyzov flagged support for a bill that would enshrine abortion as a constitutional right, and it later passed unanimously.

## Policies

### Foreign policy

Foreign relations under Amirbeyzov included strengthened cooperation with the European Union (EU), including joining the Eastern Partnership, stronger ties with NATO, and maintaining cautious relations with the People's Republic of China.

#### United Nations

Amirbeyzov attended and addressed the general debates at the United Nations General Assembly in 2016, 2018, 2020, 2021, and 2022. He also addressed the specialized debates on a number of occasions, including on the reform of United Nations Security Council, and the status of Palestine.

#### European Union

In 2016, Amirbeyzov attended and addressed the European Union (EU) parliament session in Strasbourg, France, along with formally admitting Salva to the Eastern Partnership. He also was one of the co-hosts at the EU-Caucasus summit in Tbilisi, Georgia in 2018. Amirbeyzov expressed interest in Salva joining the EU, and in 2018, Salva was declared a potential candidate to join.

#### Iranian State

As part of his foreign policy, Amirbeyzov has pursued a cautious, non-aligned position on the Iranian State, and has sought to maintain peaceful diplomatic relations with Iran. In 2022, Iran's invasion of Salva prompted Amirbeyzov to pursue a more aggressive policy on Iran, which involved strengthening the military, announcing a total embargo on the Iranian State, and closing the border to all Iranian travellers.

#### Russia

Amirbeyzov has pursued a neutral policy on the Russian Federation, and maintains diplomatic relations with Moscow. In 2022, Amirbeyzov enacted an emergency order following Russian aggression against Salva, which temporarily restricted the border and limited trade. In late 2022, Russia was accused of violating the order, and Salva initiated a lawsuit against Russia in the European Court of Human Rights. Russia was eventually ordered to pay a settlement of $1.5 billion to Salva, and Russia formally admitted to violating the order, thus easing the diplomatic conflict.

#### United States

In 2021, Amirbeyzov congratulated U.S. President Taylor A. Pearson on his re-election. In late 2022, Amirbeyzov announced his intention to strengthen relations with the United States, and the two countries normalized relations shortly thereafter.

#### Canada

Amirbeyzov has pursued a friendly position on the Canadian government, and maintains diplomatic relations with Ottawa. In 2019, Amirbeyzov announced his intention to strengthen economic relations between Salva and Canada.

#### North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

Amirbeyzov has expressed interest for Salvanian involvement in NATO, and has pursued strengthened relations with the organization. In 2020, NATO confirmed that they were planning a major military exercise in the Caucasus region with the support of Salva, which was viewed as preparation for a possible NATO membership bid by Salva.

### Domestic policy

#### Constitutional amendments

In 2016, the parliament voted unanimously in favour of an amendment to the constitution that would enshrine freedom of identity as a fundamental right. In 2018, Amirbeyzov's government introduced the controversial Neutrality Act which constitutionally states Salva as a militarily neutral nation. It narrowly passed the two-thirds majority requirement in a vote of 201-92. In 2022, the parliament voted unanimously to enshrine abortion as a constitutional right.

#### Abortion and LGBT rights

Amirbeyzov holds a strong pro-choice policy, and is a vocal advocate for equal gender rights. In 2015, the Magizhatsti voted unanimously to extend equal rights to all LGBT individuals. Amirbeyzov became the first president to attend a pride parade in 2018.

#### Economic policy

Amirbeyzov has proposed several amendments to the economic system in Salva, increasing welfare, and proposing a higher disability benefit. In 2018, the government passed a law that would ban the use of government benefits on prostitution, pimping, or running other types of illegal business. Amirbeyzov supports privatization, and has proposed measures to encourage investment in the nation, though is in favour of a free healthcare policy.