September 26th of 2016 picked as date for referendum on proposed changes to the constitution of Azerbaijan
In a bill recently sent to Azerbaijan’s Constitutional Court, the president of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, proposed 29 amendments to Azerbaijan’s current constitution. In addition to the installation of the offices of vice president
and
second vice president, he also proposed to increase the term of office of the of state from five to seven years.
On Monday the 27th of July, the Constitutional Court (CC) of Azerbaijan gave the go ahead for the proposed changes, noting that they: “do not conflict with the general provisions of the Constitution on democracy and the foundations on which the state is built and can thus be put to a referendum.”
The draft of the proposed amendments was submitted to the CC by Aliyev on the 18th of July.
In addition to the above mentioned changes, the amendments may lower the age limit for a presidential candidate from 35 to 25.
The last constitutional referendum took place in March of 2009, as a result of which the two – term limit was extended indefinitely.
