ICC NOTE: It appears Azerbaijan’s highest court approved President Ilham Alijev’s proposal to extend presidential terms, allowing him to remain in power to at least the end of his third term in 2018. President Alijev has been in power since 2003 and has continued to tighten his hold on the Central Asian country. Along with the extension of presidential terms he as also proposed restrictions upon the freedom to assemble, prompting fears that the broad language could be interpreted to include anyone he considers to be a threat, including Christians and other religious minorities. It also expands the power of the president and his administration when it is in regards to land ownership. Both direct actions taken by the president to expand his power and control upon the nation. 

7/27/2016 Azerbaijan (Reuters) – Azerbaijan’s highest court on Monday approved an initiative by President Ilham Aliyev to extend the head of state’s term of office to seven years from five, a step his critics see as illegal and undemocratic.

Ratifying an extension in the presidential term in the oil- and gas-exporting, ex-Soviet republic will require constitutional amendments and a referendum, the constitutional court said in a statement.

These changes would allow Aliyev, in power since 2003, to further tighten his grip on power after his third term ends in 2018. A 2009 referendum scrapped Azerbaijan’s two-term presidential limit, effectively enabling Aliyev to rule for life, provided he keeps being re-elected.

“In Azerbaijan, three years in every five are dedicated to elections (presidential, parliamentary and local), and every poll needs a year of preparations,” Syavush Novruzov, executive secretary of the ruling Yeni Azerbaijan Party, told Reuters.

“That’s why we think the president’s proposal must be approved.”

Critics see this move as a ploy to perpetuate Aliyev’s rule, which has been marked by crackdowns on the political opposition, now small and disparate, and independent media.

“This amendment is illegal and undemocratic, and is an attempt to strengthen rule in an unconstitutional way,” Ali Kerimli, an opposition Popular Front leader, told Reuters.

Azerbaijan is a significant exporter of oil and gas from the Caspian Sea to Western nations.

The authoritarian rulers of some post-Soviet nations like Caspian neighbour Kazakhstan, as well as Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, have amended their constitutions via plebiscites to prolong their reign.

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