Azerbaijan, Baku, Jan. 5/ Trend , J. Babayeva/
There are no restrictions for establishing referendum initiative groups in Azerbaijan, Secretary of the Central Election Commission (CEC) Natiq Mammadov told Trend on Jan. 5.
"There is only one condition for registration," Mammadov said. "Each voter can only sign for one group."
In late December, Azerbaijan's parliament passed a decision to hold a referendum March 18 to amend the Constitution. On that date, the parliament will vote on removing Paragraph 5 of Article 101, which prohibits an individual from being elected president more than twice. The parliament will also vote on adding a paragraph that will allow the presidential elections to be postponed in the event of war. Other possible amendments relate to Article 108, which specifies the rights and status of former presidents and renames the National Bank of Azerbaijan as the Central Bank and the Executive Office of the President as the Presidential Administration.
According to Article 152, the Constitution can only be amended via referendum. Additionally, Article 153 states that if the parliament or president proposes an amendment, the Constitutional Court must reach its own conclusions regarding the proposal before the referendum vote.
The Constitution was adopted in 1995. Amendments and additions were made in 2002.
Azerbaijan's governing New Azerbaijan Party (NAP) has established the New Azerbaijan initiative group.
Mammadov said Azeri citizens who have the right to vote can initiate groups. He added that they face no restrictions.
"The groups should include at least 500 people," Mammadov said. "Constituencies will register groups with 500-2,000 members. Smaller groups will only be able to campaign in certain parts of the country. The CEC will register groups with over 2,000 members, which will be able to campaign nationwide."
Mammadov said the groups must submit their documents for registration to the CEC 45 days before the referendum vote.
"The groups must notify the CEC, which will in turn proceed with registration," Mammadov said. "They can start gathering signatures as soon as the CEC lets them know that their notifications have been received. Ten days are allotted for registering each group. The CEC will convene to reach a decision after the signatures have been collected in compliance with the respective procedures."
Mammadov said registration terms include mandatory Azeri citizenship and requirements on the number of members and procedure for collecting signatures.
"The groups that meet these requirements will be registered," he said.
Have any feedback? Contact our journalist at: [email protected]
