Azerbaijani MPs to observe referendum in Turkey

By Azernews

By Kamila Aliyeva

An Azerbaijani delegation will visit Ankara on April 13-17 to observe the referendum, which will be held on April 16 in connection with the changes to the Constitution of Turkey.

The delegation will include the chairman of the parliamentary committee on health, the head of the working group on Azerbaijan-Turkey Interparliamentary relations Ahliman Amiraslanov and the member of the working group, MP Agalar Veliyev, Spokesperson for the Azerbaijani Parliament Akif Tevekkuloglu told Trend on April 10.

Next Sunday, Turkish voters will be asked to vote Yes or No to an 18-article constitutional reform bill , which would shift the country from a parliamentary system of governance to a presidential one.

The Yes campaign is backed by the ruling AK Party and opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), while the CHP has argued against the changes.

The constitutional changes also envisage increasing the number of sits at the parliament from 550 to 600 and holding parliamentary elections every five years. Currently, the parliamentary elections are held every four years.

It was also proposed to lower the age limit for a candidate to MP to 18 years from the current 25 years.

In accordance with the amendments, President-elect must be a citizen of Turkey and aged above 40 and he will also be empowered to appoint and change the ministers. The president-elect will not be obliged to be a non-party nominee anymore.

The bill of constitutional changes was passed by parliament in January, with 339 votes in favor -- nine more than needed to put the proposals to a referendum.