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Azerbaijan parliament approves referendum to end presidential term limits

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] Azerbaijan's parliament, the Milli Majlis, on Friday voted 100-7 to approve a March 18 referendum that could amend the nation's constitution to remove presidential term limits. The present law contains a two-term presidential limit, which would bring the administration of President Ilham Aliyev to an end in 2013 after the expiration of his second five-year term. On Wednesday, a plenary session of the Azerbaijani Constitutional Court ruled that the proposals may be put to a national referendum. The ruling Yeni Azerbaijan party, which holds a substantial parliamentary majority, said that the referendum strengthens democratic rights of citizens. Opposition parties including the Musavat Party and the Liberal Party have denounced the move as threatening to create a de facto monarchy. Among the other proposals to be put to vote are provisions that would postpone national elections during wartime. Aliyev was elected president of Azerbaijan in 2003 following the death of his father Heydar Aliyev, a prominent leader in the the oil- and gas-rich former Soviet republic since 1969. In October, Aliyev was reelected with nearly 90% of the vote, though the election was boycotted by opposition parties and was internationally criticized for failing to meet democratic standards. Aliyev has been accused by members of the press of heavy-handed repression of the media. In June, a Freedom House rights group report said that corruption and repression are increasingly threatening legal rights in Azerbaijan.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on December 26, 2008 (boomark / email).