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Azerbaijani Human Rights’ Club and The Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights of Poland presented a legal review regarding the participation of President Ilham Aliyev in the presidential elections in Azerbaijan, reports Azerbaijani information portal "Haqqin.az."

The report of Wojciech Sadurski, professor of constitutional law, argues that a constitutional amendment allowing President Ilham Aliyev to run for a third term, contradicts the principles of the rule of law, human rights and transparency.

As noted in the material, in his review Sadurski comments on the constitutional amendment of 2009, eliminating the restriction on re-election to the post of President of Azerbaijan.

According to him, these constitutional amendments violate the principle of transparency, as they had been hidden in the text of the amendments submitted for the referendum. Besides, the amendment eliminating the restriction on re-election, violates the European Convention on Human Rights. Third, this constitutional amendment of 2009 violates principles of legal certainty and retroactivity.

"I hope that this review will be considered by the international organizations before the presidential elections in Azerbaijan. This review confirms the opinion of most people that the Constitution should not be changed in order to give Ilham Aliyev a possibility to run for president for life," said the head of the "Club of Human Rights" Rasul Jafarov.

In his turn, Adam Bodnar, the representative of the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, noted that this reference will make European and local lawmakers to think over the political future of Azerbaijan.

The presidential elections are scheduled in Azerbaijan on 9 October 2013. The previous presidential elections were held on 15 October 2008. The current president Ilham Aliyev is on this position for two terms already - since 2003. In March 2009 a referendum on making amendments to the Constitution was held in Azerbaijan, which repealed the restriction on one person remaining in office for more than two consecutive terms. The Venice Commission of the Council of Europe stated in this regard, "Giving one person the right to be repeatedly elected to the presidency is seen as a step backwards in the development of democracy."