MP: Proposed amendments to Constitution indicate development of Azerbaijan
By Rashid Shirinov
The proposed amendments and additions to the current Constitution indicate the development of Azerbaijan, believes MP Aydin Mirzazade.
He told Trend that the changes and amendments to the Constitution cover three directions.
“The first direction is the extension of human rights and freedoms, the second – improvement of the state administration mechanism, and the third refers to clarification of terminology. All of them are requirements of the present day,” the MP said.
Mirzazade noted that the improvement of the state management is linked to the population growth and huge tasks that Azerbaijan faces.
“The number of country’s population is expected to reach 10 million in a year and a half, and Azerbaijan will join the group of countries with a large population. From this point of view, a new mechanism required to manage a big state,” said Mirzazade, further elaborating that one of such mechanisms is to ensure permanent control of the president over some issues.
“At present, many issues are resolved at the level of ministers or prime minister. The establishment of the vice-presidency institution will allow to keep certain issues in constant focus of the president and create conditions for operational decisions. This practice is common in many countries,” said MP.
Mirzazade further noted that Azerbaijan is a Presidential Republic, and there are a number of questions over relations between president and parliament that need to be addressed.
“The president has no powers to dissolve the Parliament. However, there may be occasions when Parliament fails to approve candidates appointed by the President for a long time. In this case, some spheres can for a long time remain without a head, and strategic issues remain unsolved. From this point of view, in case of disagreements between the President and Parliament, the President gets the right to dissolve the Parliament,” said Mirzazade.
The MP said such issues have not been on the agenda since 1992 because they did not require such attention.
“But we already have over 20 years of experience as a democratic and legal state. Azerbaijan is known everywhere, Azerbaijani citizens know their rights,and our Constitution is a serious, effective mechanism. Now there is a need for introduction of innovations in such issues,” said the MP.
Amendments are proposed to 29 articles of the Constitution.
The changes envisage extension of the presidential term from five to seven years, establishment of the first vice-president and vice-president positions in the country as well as abolishment of minimum age limit for presidential candidates, dissolution of parliament by the President.
Additionally, according to the proposed amendments, persons who have the right to participate in the parliamentary elections (at the age of 18) can be elected to the Parliament. Previously, the age limit for being nominated for the participation in parliamentary elections was 25 years.
The Constitutional Court of Azerbaijan approved the draft
amendments to the Constitution at its meeting on July 25. The Court
concluded that the changes proposed by President Ilham Aliyev are
in line with the requirements of the Constitution of Azerbaijan and
may be put up for a nationwide vote.
President Aliyev has signed a decree on holding a referendum on
amendments to the country’s constitution on September 26, 2016.
Final results of the Referendum will be announced till October
21.
The last time changes to the Constitution were made seven years ago, following Constitutional referendum held in 2009.
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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov
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