Background and career
Isa Yunis oghlu Gambar (Azerbaijani: İsa Yunis oğlu Qəmbər), also known as Isa Gambar (born February 24, 1957), is an Azerbaijani politician and leader of the Equality Party (Müsavat), one of the opposition blocs in Azerbaijan. He was elected a member of parliament in 1990 and was elected parliamentary speaker in 1992.
A prominent opposition figure in Azerbaijan, Gambar was blocked from contesting elections by Azerbaijani ruler Heydar Aliyev. Aliyev stripped Gambar of parliamentary immunity and had him arrested when he criticized Aliyev's power grab in 1993. Criticism from abroad led Aliyev's regime to release Gambar a few weeks later.
Gambar was a close associate of independent Azerbaijan's first freely elected president Abulfaz Elchibey who was ousted in a military coup in June 1993.
During his time in parliament, Gambar worked with Elchibey to take the first steps to introducing market reforms in Azerbaijan.
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