Azerbaijan Holds Constitutional Referendum

Baku / 27.09.16 / Turan: A referendum on constitutional amendments is held in Azerbaijan today. On September 26, the country does not work. Citizens of Azerbaijan are invited to express their attitude to the changes and additions to the Constitution.

The ballot papers include 29 items.

The voting on the referendum is held from 08.00 to 19.00 of the local time at 5,627 polling stations on the territory of 125 counties and 38 stations in the embassies of Azerbaijan. During the day, five times - at 10.00, 12.00, 15.00, 17.00 and 19.00 information will be provided on the turnout. By late evening, September 26, the preliminary results of the referendum will be announced, received from the polling stations in the information system of the Central Election Commission. The official results must be announced by CEC before October 21.

The referendum is considered valid if it is attended by at least 25 percent of the registered voters.

The vote will take place on each of the 29 points on the ballot. They will be considered adopted if more than half of the voters who participate in the referendum vote for them.

According to the CEC, 5,127,111 voters were included in the permanent list of voters in the country as of May 26.

Fifty-three thousand local observers have been registered, mostly from pro-government organizations, as well as 117 international observers.

The monitoring is not attended by representatives of international organizations, with the exception of the PACE assessment mission.

Observers of the party Musavat were not registered by election commissions.

Because of the problems created for the civil society institutions in recent years, the referendum will not be observed by independent monitoring entities.

The amendments have been initiated by President Ilham Aliyev.

 The Draft Referendum Act provides for the establishment of the posts of First Vice President and Vice Presidents, who will be appointed and dismissed by the President without the consent of anybody.

According to the proposed changes, in the event that the President is unable to perform the duties of head of state, his powers are transferred to the First Vice President. And if he (she) is also unable to implement the powers of head of state, these functions are transferred to the Prime Minister. According to the existing Constitution, if the President is unable to perform his duties, his powers are passed to the Prime Minister.

In addition, it is proposed to extend the term of the President’s powers from 5 to 7 years. The President will have a right to declare extraordinary elections of the President.

It is also proposed to eliminate the minimum age limit for a presidential candidate, which is now at 35 years old.

Also, the minimum age qualification is canceled for candidates for MPs, which is now at 25 years old. Thus, the citizens who have reached the voting age of 18 years will be able to run for President and Parliament.

In addition, it provides for the introduction of rules on the dissolution of Parliament. In particular, according to the project, it will be possible in the following cases: if the National Assembly within one year twice makes a vote of no confidence in the Cabinet of Ministers or twice fails to adopt the number of members of the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court and the Board of the Central Bank, submitted by the President and required for these bodies to implement their activities. Then the Parliament can be dismissed by the President.

The current Constitution does not provide for the dissolution of the Parliament.

In addition, amendments have been proposed, allowing the restriction of property rights and freedom of assembly. Thus, Article 29 is amended, according to which “private ownership of land can be limited for social justice and the efficient use of land.”

As regards freedom of assembly, it is guaranteed, but with the condition of “no violation of public order and public morals.”

In addition, an amendment has been offered that permits the deprivation of citizenship of Azerbaijan in cases specified by law.

The opposition opposes the amendments, seeing in them the purpose of establishing a “monarchical order” in the country.

Specific complaints have been caused by the prolongation of the presidential term to 7 years, the President’s appointment of the First Vice President, who in case of force majeure becomes Acting Head of State, as well as setting a minimum age requirement to be elected MP and President.

The opposition believes these amendments open the way for involvement of the younger members of the Aliyev family in the state governance.

The opposition has also criticized the referendum haste without prior public discussion and the absence of democratic conditions during the campaign itself, depriving opponents of the authorities of access to the airwaves, even persecution of participants in the agreed protest rallies.

The authorities argue that the amendments are caused by the objectives of preserving stability in the country, promoting the implementation of large-scale reforms to improve governance.

The amendments drew criticism from international organizations and in particular the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe.

The expert opinion of the Venice Commission noted that the proposed amendments “seriously disturb the balance between the branches of government” and “provide the Azerbaijani President with unprecedented powers.”

Experts have called “unjustified” the extension of the presidential mandate from five to seven years, given the already strong position of the head of state. The President of Azerbaijan since 2009 may be re-elected an unlimited number of times, recalled the experts of the Venice Commission in their report.

“In addition, the President is granted the authority to dissolve the Parliament, which will have a negative effect on political dissent in the Parliament.”

Experts of the Venice Commission in their report also noted that they were “particularly concerned about the introduction of unelected Vice Presidents, who may at some time run the country, and the provision of the head of state with powers to declare early presidential elections.”

The Venice Commission has criticized the referendum and the procedure - in particular, its conduct “without prior debate in the Parliament and among the public, as well as in a very short time.” “The Venice Commission regrets that the Azerbaijani authorities did not consult with it before submitting the draft to a referendum,” the Commission’s report states.

At the same time, the experts of the Commission in their report positively assessed the amendment, which states that “human dignity is respected and protected.” Positive feedback was also received for the amendment of the “right to protection against arbitrariness and to be treated with dignity.”

However, official Baku considers the conclusion of the Venice Commission on the referendum on amendments to the Azerbaijani Constitution a political order.  -06B--