Report on Azerbaijani referendum spread in PACE

A report which describes Member of the Azerbaijani delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) and Parliamentarian Rafael Huseynov's position on the March 18 referendum in the country was published as an addition to a final report of the organization's Bureau and Permanent Committee, Huseynov told journalists on April 29.

"Achievements which Azerbaijan has gained within a short period of time is a great success of the Council of Europe and this is an indicator of the organization's positive activity. Azerbaijan passed two serious examinations during 6 months. The presidential elections held on Oct. 15 in 2008 and the referendum which was held on March 18 in 2009 to amend the Constitution took place under transparent conditions and with high voter turnout," the document said.

Azerbaijan held referendum to amend 29 articles of the Constitution on March 18.

According to the Central Election Commission (CEC), 87-92 percent of voters supported the amendments.

The referendum proposes replacing the current version of the 5th paragraph of Article 101 of the Constitution, which states that "no person shall be elected President of the Republic of Azerbaijan for more than two consecutive terms," by an option to extend the incumbent president's term in the event of ongoing military operations. The presidential term is 5 years.

President Ilham Aliyev was elected to the post in 2003 and 2008.

The parliamentarian spoke about the Azerbaijani referendum and noted that this event testifies development of democracy.

The document describes Azerbaijan's new election culture as an expression of democratic values for which the CE has struggled for a long time. "This fact testifies that legal state establishment, activity of democratic institutions, people's high political activity, as well as providing freedoms of word and media and human rights passed the examination successfully," the document said.

/Trend News/