A constitutional referendum was held in Azerbaijan on 18 March 2009.[1] The referendum, initiated by the authoritarian Ilham Aliyev regime, consisted of 29 measures. The most controversial were a measure to abolish presidential term limits, enabling Aliyev to run for president beyond two terms, and a measure to greatly restrict press freedom.

The measures passed, with approval of measures between 87.14% and 91.76%, disapproval between 4.59% and 7.24% and invalid votes between 3.64% and 5.70%; turnout was 71.08%.[2][3] The referendum was marred by fraud.[4]

This provision of the constitutional amendment was condemned by the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe, which stated that "As a rule, it can be said that the abolition of existing limits preventing the unlimited re-election of a President is a step back, in terms of democratic achievements".[5][6] Professor Wojciech Sadurski, Challis Professor of Jurisprudence at the Faculty of Law of Sydney University, in his legal opinion stated that the conduct of the Azeri government in the adoption of the amendment violated the principle of transparency and that it constituted a breach of European law under the European Convention on Human Rights as well as the international law.[7][8] The amendment was also criticized by the Azerbaijani opposition.[9]

On the basis of the amendment in 2013 Ilham Aliyev ran for president for the third time.

References

  1. ↑ "Azerbaijani Parliament Approves Referendum On Presidential Term Limit". Rferl.org. 2008-12-26. Retrieved 2013-09-22.
  2. ↑ ""Seçkilər" İnformasiya Mərkəzi". Infocenter.gov.az. Archived from the original on 2008-10-13. Retrieved 2013-09-22.
  3. ↑ ""Seçkilər" İnformasiya Mərkəzi". Infocenter.gov.az. Archived from the original on 2013-02-02. Retrieved 2013-09-22.
  4. ↑ "Azerbaijan Holds Controversial Constitutional Referendum". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 2016-09-26.
  5. ↑ Venice Commission Questions Constitutional Changes In Azerbaijan
  6. ↑ Opinion No. 518/2008 "OPINION ON THE DRAFT AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF AZERBAIJAN" Venice, 13-14 March 2009
  7. ↑ "Legal opinion ahead of elections in Azerbaijan". Archived from the original on 2021-06-13. Retrieved 2013-11-22.
  8. ↑ "Legal opinion on constitutional changes concerning presidential elections in Azerbaijan by Prof. Sadurski". Archived from the original on 2014-02-01. Retrieved 2013-11-22.
  9. ↑ "Opposition Condemns Changes to Azeri Constitution". Archived from the original on 2013-12-03. Retrieved 2013-11-22.
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