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A constitutional amendment is again on agenda in Azerbaijan. On Monday, President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree to send a Project of Referendum Act on Introducing Amendments to the Constitution of Azerbaijan to the Constitutional Court of the country for consideration, local Turan news agency reports.

The agency notes that the suggested amendments propose to introduce the institutes of the first vice-president and vice-presidents, who will be appointed and dismissed by the president of the country.

In addition, the innovations provide for the reformulation of several provisions in several articles of the Constitution of the Azerbaijan Republic. In particular, the minimum age limit for a presidential candidate, which is now set to 35 years, will be eliminated from the Article 100, “Requirements to candidates to the post of the President of the Azerbaijan Republic.”

The news agency informs that it is planned to introduce amendments in the first part of the Article 101, “Procedure of the elections of the President of the Azerbaijan Republic,” according to which, the presidential term will be increased from five to seven years. The following is proposed to add to the article: “The president of the Azerbaijan Republic has the authority to declare snap presidential elections.”

Terms of conducting snap elections are reduced from 3 months to 60 days in the Article 105, “Implementation of powers of the President of the Azerbaijan Republic on his resignation.”

Taking into account the introduction of the vice president’s institution, an amendment of the constitutional provision regarding the person, who temporarily acts as the head of the state until new president is elected, is proposed: earlier, the prime minister fulfilled those functions, while now the first vice president. In case of the first vice president’s incapacity, those functions are entrusted to the second vice president, according to the innovations.

The constitutional provision on the Parliament of Azerbaijan is also proposed to be amended to remove the parliamentary candidates' age restrictions. Therefore, if people under 25 could not enter the parliament earlier, now the amendments give them the right to participate in elections from 18.

“It is also proposed to introduce articles on the dissolution of the Milli Majlis, on the right of signing intergovernmental and interstate multinational agreements, on the responsibilities of the municipalities, and so on,” the agency informs.

Commenting on the sensational news, Turan writes that the amendments proposed by Aliyev are aimed at expanding the already wide powers of the president. In its turn, Azerbaijan is turning into a “super presidential republic.”

Regarding the statement that in case of the incapacity of the head of state, his functions must temporarily be carried out by the vice presidents instead of the prime minister as per the current Constitution, the agency notes that the difference is that if the prime minister is  approved by the parliament, the head of the state himself appoints the first vice president without any approval.

Turan writes that apart from the expansion of the presidential term from 5 to 7 years and the elimination of the minimal age limit for the presidential candidates, it is proposed to introduce an amendment in the Constitution providing for the dissolution of the parliament, a provision which is not provided in the current Constitution.

“According to the project, the dissolution of the parliament is possible in the following cases: if the Milli Majlis passes a vote of no confidence to the Cabinet twice in a year or does not approve a quantity of members of the Constitutional Court, Supreme Court, the board of the Central Bank necessary for the implementation of the activities of those organs after the introduction by the president, and so on. The Parliament is dissolved by the President,” the agency informs.

According to the agency, some of the proposed amendments in the Constitution of the Azerbaijan Republic refer to human rights and work out in detail the rights and freedoms already provided by the Constitution.

For example, the agency notes that part I of the Article 24 reads, “Human dignity is protected and it is respected,” while part III of the same article reads, “It is not allowed to abuse rights.”

“Parts V and VI are introduced to the Article 29 – 'Private property implies social obligations' and 'Private property rights to land can be limited for social justice and efficient use of land.' Observers fear that this provision can in fact create legal conditions for the expropriation of lands from citizens,” Turan writes.

Three new provisions are also added in the Article 32, according to which, it is not allowed to intervene in the information sources with the aim of obtaining information about third parties, except for the cases provided by the law, to use of the information technologies for exposing facts about private life, convictions, religious and ethnic background, apart from the cases when there is the consent of the person, to whom the information concerns, and to process anonymous statistical data and other cases provided by the law.

In addition, symbolic amendments are introduced to the Article 46, “Freedom of Assembly”, and 53, “Right for Citizenship”, of the Constitution of the Azerbaijan Republic. According to the innovations, citizens of the republic “are granted freedom of assembly” on the condition that they do “not violate the public order and the public morality.”

Turan writes that the provision that citizens of the Azerbaijan Republic under no circumstances can be deprived of the Azerbaijani citizenship will be eliminated from the Article 53. It is proposed to indicate in the new version that citizens cannot be deprived of citizenship, except for the loss of citizenship cases provided by the law.

In its turn, online media outlet The Caucasian Knot informs about the proposed amendment in the Article 57, according to which, military personnel can appeal to state agencies only on an individual basis, while other citizens possess the right of collective petitions, as well as the provision that the MPs can be deprived of powers in case of “violating ethical norms.”.

Meanwhile, oppositionists and experts in Azerbaijan called the constitutional amendments retrogressive. They hold that the amendments aim to strengthen the authoritarianism in the country, the source informs.

APFP leader Ali Kerimli considers the amendments an attempt of strengthening the presidential power and “ensuring the eternity of the regime,” and Musavat leader Arif Hajili sees attempts of “toughening the regime” in the Referendum Act.

“All this is undertaken in order to expand Ilham Aliyev’s presidential term from 5 to 7 years, allow him to establish the position of the first vice president for handing him the power if necessary. Plus, the propositions of eliminating the minimal age limits for the position of the president, which is now restricted to 35 years. It is obvious that all this is an attempt to make the de facto existing unlimited family power constitutionally legal and to strengthen the authoritarianism,” the Caucasian Knot cites Kerimli saying, who also notes that APFP will stand up against the referendum by peaceful legal means.

In his turn, Musavat party leader Arif Hajili notes that the main aim of constitutional changes is the expansion of the powers of the presidential authorities, and at the same time, the diminution of the influence of the parliament and the Cabinet.

“After the strengthening of the regime in Turkey, it was expected that it would also take place in Azerbaijan. However, we did not think that it would happen so quickly. Good experience is not adopted in our country, and if there is something retrogressive, it is immediately taken over,” he notes.

Natig Jafarli, REAL movement’s executive secretary, believes the amendments will only “shake the regime up” and says that the redistribution of powers towards the strengthening of the presidential power will generate intersystem controversies.

“It is impossible to solve essential problems and to get out of the quagmire of the economic crisis by creating the institute of the first vice president and vice presidents. The unwillingness to carry out cardinal reforms will only worsen the situation and create new problems for the authorities,” he says.

Muzaffar Bakhish, the head of the State of Law Study Center NGO, also calls the proposed amendments in the Constitution “retrogressive” highlighting that it will lead to serious human rights violations. “Such streamlining in statements will strengthen the dependence of the parliament on the president. On the other hand, the presidential term is extended to seven years,” Bakhish said as cited by the Caucasian Knot. 

According to Bakhish, the provision on limiting the rights on land ownership with the aim of “social justice and effective usage of lands” is also a threat to civil rights. “It will open the way for seizing lands, and it limits the rights and freedoms of the citizens,” he believes.