ICC NOTE: In what comes as no surprise, an Azerbaijani official has come out to condemn the report presented by a human rights body known as the Venice Commission in relation to their proposed changes to the country’s constitution. In what he views as “hasty”, the commission has determined in their opinion the new amendments would give more power to the already powerful office of the president. Whether or not the current president would dissolve parliament is not what is in question. What is is the fact the power would be given to the position in the first place. In a region where authoritarian regimes are beginning to centralize more and more power each day, decisions such as Azerbaijan’s spells trouble for the basic freedoms many hold dear, especially religious minorities who tend to be the first targets among authoritarian nations. 

9/23/2016 Azerbaijan (Radio Free Europe) – An Azerbaijani official has rejected criticism by Council of Europe experts over proposed changes to Azerbaijan’s constitution that will be voted on in a national referendum on September 26.

Shahin Aliyev, the head of the legal department in Azerbaijan’s presidential administration, said the negative opinions by the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission were “hasty” and “unfounded.”

The Venice Commission said on September 21 that many draft proposals by Baku’s government would severely upset the balance of power and give “unprecedented” control to the president.

For example, the extension of the presidential mandate from five to seven years “cannot be justified” given the already very strong position of the president, the commission said.

Aliyev said in a briefing in Baku on September 21 that “we view that hasty conclusion [by the Venice Commission], which has many flaws, as politically driven. They speak to us in a language of ultimatums.”

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