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OnSeptember 26, AzerbaijanheldConstitutionalReferendum. The referendum was initiated by President IlhamAliyev, who has ruled since 2003 and cracked down on dissent, British news agency BBC reports. 

The plan includes lowering the age limit for presidential candidates, creating a strong vice-presidency and extending the presidential term.The opposition sees the vote as a move to cement the powers of the first family, with Aliyev's wife and 19-year-old son seen as potential heirs.

Reportedly, the referendum comes after dozens of opposition activists were arrested in the oil-rich former Soviet state.One of President Aliyev's main opponents, IlgarMammadov, leader of the pro-Western opposition party ReAL, and other pro-democracy activists are still in jail.

"With this referendum he [President Aliyev] wipes out all obstacles in the way of his family members to come to power," says Ali Kerimli, chairman of the opposition Popular Front Party.

But Aydin Mirzezadeh of the ruling New Azerbaijan Party says the authorities "have no such plan". “However, many citizens think differently. They watch state-controlled TV, where politicians suggest the first lady as the most suitable candidate for the vice-presidency,” BBC writes.

"We are establishing a monarchy," one Baku resident told the BBC.

The agency notes that Aliyev himself was caught on camera smiling and clapping when a cotton worker suggested that 19-year-old Heydar Aliyev be president - but only after "a 90-year-long rule of President Aliyev".

It is highlighted that the Aliyev family has been in power for 23 years.IlhamAliyev in effect inherited power from his late father Heydar Aliyev in 2003.If these changes are implemented, and he is re-elected in 2018 elections, Aliyev will be able stay in power until at least 2025.

“Corruption, economic difficulties and job losses as a result of decreasing oil revenues have increased dissatisfaction with the government. A Yes vote in the referendum will give President Aliyev more power to control discontent,” BBC sums up.

In its turn, news agency Associated Press reminds that the constitutional amendments put to referendum in Azerbaijan were sharply criticized by not only the Azerbaijani opposition, but also international human rights organizations, including the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe. It is highlighted that according to the opponents of the constitutional changes, the amendments will cement what they see as effectively a dynastic rule in Azerbaijan.

“They consider the amendments an effective mechanism for expanding the powers of the Aliyev family that has come under frequent criticism from abroad for alleged human rights abuses and suppression of dissent,” the agency notes.

Meanwhile, the website of the TV channel Al Jazeera notes that Azerbaijanis have started voting in a controversial referendum on boosting presidential powers, with opposition and rights groups denouncing the proposed amendments as a move to expand President IlhamAliyev's grip on power.

It is reminded that opposition groups staged mass protests in the run-up to the referendum, accusing Aliyev of trying to extend his family's control over the oil-rich former Soviet republic.“The referendum has been accompanied by arrests and intimidation. Those who have attempted to criticize and campaign against these proposals have faced assaults and harassment by the authorities,” the agency cites the statement of the human rights organization Amnesty International issued ahead of the voting.
Al Jazeera notes that another human rights organization Freedom House wrote last week that “president IlhamAliyev is the person most responsible for Azerbaijan's appalling human rights record of the last decade.”

In its turn, influential international agency Reuters highlights that European democracy watchdogs have said the Constitutional Referendum in Azerbaijan has been marred by vote-rigging and unequal access to the media. 

According to the article, Aliyev's rule long benefited from an economic boom fueled by oil. But a slump in global oil prices in the past two years has weakened the Azeri currency, the manat, and shrunk the economy.

“I voted in favor of all changes, although I have not read what those changes are about,”SanuberMuradova, 40, a school teacher, said after casting her ballot. “Politics is not for ordinary people, but I'm a teacher and I have to go and vote.”

Meanwhile, radio Business FM writes that according to some politicians, the constitutional changes will lead to the growth of protests in Azerbaijan both by the democratic opposition and the Islamists. However, GanimatZahid, the France-based editor-in-chief of the newspaper Azadliq and the author of the TV program Azerbaijan Saati, noted that Aliyev has to be afraid of his closest people most of all. 

“IlhamAliyev is afraid of his environment. He needs this referendum for these very reasons. He does not have money, as he had before, and he has to take from his closest people everything they collected during the corruption years. The new constitution gives IlhamAliyev the right to take from his oligarchs all they have. Secondly, he wants to perpetuate his power, to hand it to his son or wife or daughters, it does not matter. And the articles that have been reduced in a country, where there is wild dictatorship, never functioned. I think there will be an in-house opposition, a clandestine in-house opposition, and they may take revenge. Of course, there will be some resistance,”Zahid said.

Inhisturn, thehead of the Baku club of political scientists “South Caucasus”, IlgarVelizade, told Business FM that one of the most important components of the proposed constitutional reform may be the question of property rights, particularly, land rights. In his opinion, the new changes provide for the disposition of land resources and their further public use.

According to the article, the Azerbaijani economy depends on hydrocarbon export by 80 per cent. After the drop in oil prices in 2015, the national currency’s rate against dollar decreased by over 100 per cent. The country’s gold and foreign exchange reserves, gross investment in economy, and prices on real estate have also been reduced significantly.

On July 18, Azerbaijani President IlhamAliyev 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. 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 minimum age limit for a presidential candidate, which is now set to 35 years, will be eliminated. It is also planned to increase the presidential term from five to seven years. 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.

Azerbaijani oppositionists and experts called the Constitutional amendments retrogressive considering them directed towards the strengthening of the authoritarianism in the country, which will lead to serious human rights violations.