President Ilham Aliyev has been chairman of YAP since its 3rd congress held on 26 March 2005.

[21] The party's stated ideologies are lawfulness, secularism, and Azerbaijani nationalism.

It wants to build a "social-oriented" economy, and lists civil solidarity and social justice as the basis of its ideology.

The principles of an independent state, lawfulness, creative progress, Azerbaijanism, civil solidarity and social justice have been declared as the basis of the party's ideology.

Its candidate Ilham Aliyev was reported by the government to have won 76.84% of the popular vote in the 2003 presidential elections.