BAKU - Ilham Aliyev, son of Azerbaijan's ailing President Heidar Aliyev, was anointed president-in-waiting on Monday when parliament named him as the oil-rich former Soviet republic's new prime minister, AFP reported.

With President Aliyev reported to be gravely ill in a Turkish hospital, the new prime minister, under the country's constitution, would take over as caretaker president if his father is deemed too unwell to carry on in office.

If that happened, said analysts, it would give 41-year-old Ilham a springboard to win presidential elections set for October 15, and cement the former Soviet Union's first political dynasty.

Speaking to reporters, the newly-minted prime minister sidestepped the issue of the presidency, saying instead he planned to focus on his new job. "I plan to phone my father now and tell him the good news," he said. But Rashad Rzaquliyev, a political analyst, said: "This shows that no one expects Heidar Aliyev to run in the elections... It is part of a plan to make it easier to transfer power to Ilham, the regime's chosen successor."

Sitting in emergency session on Monday, deputies in Azerbaijan's parliament, or Milli Majlis, voted by 101 in favour with one abstention to approve the appointment of Ilham as prime minister.

They were acting on a formal request from 80-year-old President Aliyev, sent from his hospital bed in Turkey's capital, Ankara. The previous premier, Artur Rasizade, tendered his resignation three hours later.

For Azerbaijan, an impoverished nation of eight million people which borders Iran, Russia and Turkey, Ilham Aliyev's appointment appeared to mean the preservation of the status quo. "The most worthy heir to the policies of Heidar Aliyev is Ilham Aliyev," said Ali Ahmedov, a deputy with the Yeni Azerbaijan ruling party. "All those who supported his father for decades will back him."

There was relief among Western companies, who have poured billions of dollars (euros) into developing Azerbaijan's oil reserves and had feared President Aliyev's ill health could spell a chaotic power vacuum.

"We're about to crack open the champagne here in the office," said one employee in a Western firm, who did not want to be identified. But other voters said they were unhappy. "They forced Heidar Aliyev on us and now they are forcing his son on us," said Rima, a housewife. "No one wants him. No one ever asked the ordinary people what they think." Opposition parties reacted to the appointment with anger. "This (is) as another attempt to seize power," said Isa Gambar, leader of the Musavat party. "They are trying to set up a monarchical system."

Azerbaijan's new prime minister is a reformed playboy and gambler who speaks fluent English, French, Russian and Turkish and until Monday worked as vice president of Azerbaijan's state oil company.

He has been carefully groomed for high office. In recent months he has deputised for the president at meetings with visiting delegations and the pro-government media have run flattering profiles.

But many observers question whether he has the authority to hold together the fractious clans which make up Azerbaijan's ruling regime. "No one takes him seriously," one Western diplomat said.

Monday's vote indicated that the curtain was finally coming down on Heidar Aliyev's long-running reign, which began back in 1969 when he was appointed Azerbaijan's Communist Party boss.

Born into poverty, he worked his way to the highest posts in the Kremlin and then, when the Soviet Union began to fall apart, he re-emerged as president of newly-independent Azerbaijan.

Though criticized for suppressing political freedoms and turning a blind eye to corruption among his cronies, he is regarded with affection by many Azeris who know him by the nickname "Baba", or grandfather.

But age and illness have been catching up on him. His aides say his condition is not serious. But he collapsed on live television in April and has not been seen in public since July 8, when he checked into hospital.