Azerbaijani CEC announces results of constitutional referendum

  27 September 2016    Read: 2028
Azerbaijani CEC announces results of constitutional referendum
Azerbaijani Central Election Commission has announced the results of the referendum held in Azerbaijan Sept. 26 to amend the country’s Constitution.

At a press conference in Baku Sept. 27, CEC Chairman Mazahir Panahov said that the voting process has come to an end at all polling stations opened in Azerbaijan’s diplomatic missions abroad.

Thus, all the 5,627 polling stations have submitted their reports.

The voting results are as follows:

1. Part I of Article 9 shall read as follows:

“I. In order to ensure its safety and defense the Azerbaijan Republic establishes the Armed Forces, which consists of the Azerbaijani Army and other armed formations”

84.81% in favor, 8.72% against, 6.47% void.


2. Article 24:

2.1. Parts I and II shall be considered parts II and III and Part I in the following content shall be supplemented to the same article:

"I. Human dignity is respected and protected";

2.2. The second sentence shall be supplemented to Part III in the following content:

"Abuse of rights is not permitted."

87.29% in favor, 7.39% against, 5.32% void


3. Article 25:

3.1 In the first sentence of Part III, the word “nationality” shall be replaced with “ethnic identity” and in the second sentence the word “national” shall be replaced with “ethnic”;

3.2. Part VI shall be supplemented in the following content:

“VI. People with disabilities enjoy all the rights and duties enshrined in the Constitution, except for the rights and responsibilities whose implementation is complicated because of their disability"

87.25% in favor, 7.37% against, 5.38% void;

4. Article 29:

4.1. Part V shall be considered Part VII;

4.2. Parts V and VI shall be supplemented in the following content;

“V. Private property implies social obligations.

VI. For the purpose of social justice and rational use of land, ownership on land may be restricted by law"

87.36% in favor, 7.35% against, 5.29% void.


5. Parts VI, VII and VIII shall be supplemented to Article 32 in the following content:

“VI. Except as required by law, access to the information resources—electronic or paper—in order to obtain data about third parties is prohibited.

VII. Except in cases when the person who the data belongs to openly agrees, processing of statistical anonymous information on the condition of non-discrimination and other cases permitted by law, information technology could not be used for the disclosure of data on his personal life, including with respect to beliefs, religion and ethnicity.

VIII. The terms of individual data, as well as conditions of their processing, acquisition, transfer, use and protection is defined by law"

86.11% in favor, 7.87% against, 6.02% void;


6. Article 36:

6.1 The phrase “other military formations” shall be removed from Part II;

6.2. Part IV shall be supplemented in the following content:

“IV. Except as provided by law, lockout is prohibited”

83.5% in favor, 9.42% against, 7.08% void


7. The phrase "relying on any other criteria" shall be supplemented after the word “social” in Part III of Article 47

83.25% in favor, 9.55% against, 7.2% void


8. The phrase “provided that public order and public morals is not violated" shall be supplemented after the phrase “by…” in Part II of Article 49.

87.26%in favor, 7.35% against, 5.39% void


9. The word “in any case” in Part I of Article 53 shall be removed and the phrase “(except for statutory cases of loss)” shall be supplemented after the word “citizenship”

88.21% in favor, 6.78% against, 5.01% void


10. The phrase “participation in elections” shall be replaced with the phrase “to be elected”

87.17% in favor, 7.35% against, 5.48% void


11. The second sentence in the following content shall be supplemented to Part I of Article 57:

“Soldiers can use this right only on an individual basis"

87.34% in favor, 7.31% against, 5.35% void


12. The first sentence of Part IV of Article 58 shall appear in the following edition:

"Activity of unions which intend forcible overthrow of legal state power on the whole territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan or in any part thereof and other objectives which are considered a crime, or use criminal methods are prohibited”

84.95% in favor, 8.64% against, 6.41 void

13. Article 59:

13.1. The text of the article shall be considered Part I and the phrase “in the manner prescribed by law” shall be removed;

13.2 Part II shall be supplemented in the following content:

“II. The state only regulates the protection of state interests, and human life and health”

90.96% in favor, 4.97% against, 4.07%

14. Article 60 shall appear in the following edition:

“Article 60. Administrative and judicial guarantee of rights and freedoms


I. Everyone is guaranteed the protection of his rights and freedoms in the administrative manner and in court

II. Everyone has the right to an unbiased approach to their work and consideration of the case within a reasonable time in the administrative proceedings and litigation

III. Everyone has the right to being heard in administrative proceedings and litigation

IV. Everyone may appeal to court in the administrative manner against the actions and inaction of public authorities, political parties, legal entities, municipalities and their officials”


91.15% in favor, 4.84% against, 4.01% void


15. Article 68:

15.1 The title of the article shall appear in the following edition:

“The right to protection against arbitrariness and being treated with dignity"

15.2. Parts I and II shall be considered as parts II and III;

15.3 Parts I and IV shall be supplemented in the following content:

“I. Everyone has the right to being treated by public bodies with dignity that rules out arbitrariness”

“IV. The government, together with civil servants, shall bear civil liability for damage caused to human rights and freedoms as a result of unlawful actions and inaction of public servants, and the violation of their guarantees”

89.28% in favor, 5.92% against, 4.8% void


16. The third sentence in the following content shall be supplemented to Part II of Article 71:

“Restriction rights and freedoms should be proportional to the result expected by the state"

87.73% in favor, 6.97% against, 5.3% void


17. The phrase “Above 25 years of age” in Part I of Article 85 shall be replaced with “with the right to participation in election”

87.75 in favor, 6.98% against, 5.27% void


18.The point mark at the end of Subparagraph 5 of Paragraph I of Part I of Article 85 shall be replaced with a comma and subparagraphs 6 and 7 in the following edition shall be supplemented to the same paragraph:

6) In case this violates the requirement of Part III of Article 93:

7) In flagrant violation of statutory rules of ethical conduct for deputies

87.82% in favor, 6.98% against, 5.2% void


19. Article 981 shall be supplemented in the following edition:

Article 981. The dissolution of the Milli Mejlis (Parliament) of the Republic of Azerbaijan

The President of the Republic of Azerbaijan is empowered to dissolve the parliament in the following cases:

If the same convocation of the Milli Mejlis of the Azerbaijani Republic expresses twice during the year no-confidence to the Cabinet of Ministers of the Azerbaijani Republic; If the Milli Mejlis of the Azerbaijani Republic fails to appoint during the statutory period the candidates nominated for the membership of the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court and the Board of the Central Bank of Azerbaijan upon a double submission of the President of Azerbaijan; If the Milli Mejlis of the Azerbaijani Republic fails to fulfill its obligations enshrined in Articles 94, 95 and 97 as well as in Parts II, III, IV and V of Article 96 due to unavoidable reasons;

87.89% in favor, 8.7% against, 5.19% void


20. The phrase “no younger than 35” shall be removed from Article 100

88.03% in favor, 6.78% against, 5.19% void


21. The figure “5” in Part I of Article 101 shall be replaced by the figure “7” and shall be supplemented to the second sentence in the following content:

“The President of the Republic of Azerbaijan is empowered to declare extraordinary presidential elections”

84.21% in favor, 9.11% against, 6.68% void


22. Article 1031 shall be supplemented in the following content:

Article 1031. Vice-presidents of the Republic of Azerbaijan

I. First Vice-President and Vice-Presidents of the Republic of Azerbaijan are appointed and dismissed by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

II. A citizen of the Azerbaijani Republic, having voting right and university decree and having no obligations in other states can be appointed to the post of Vice-President of the Republic of Azerbaijan

84.48% in favor, 8.99% against, 6.53% void


23. Article 105.

23.1. The word “within three months” in the first sentence of Part I shall be replaced by the word “within 60 days” and the words “Prime Minister” in the second sentence of Part I shall be replaced by the words “First Vice-President”

23.2. The word “Prime Minister” in Part II shall be replaced by the word “First Vice-President” and the word “powers by Speaker of the Milli Mejlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan” shall be replaced by “Vice-President of the Republic of Azerbaijan receives the status of First Vice-President in a specified sequence and the powers of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan”

23.3 Part III shall read as follows

“III. Due to the reasons specified in Part II of this article, in case that First Vice-President is unable to carry out the powers of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the powers of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan shall be carried out by Prime Minister of the Republic of Azerbaijan.”;

23.4 Part IV shall be supplemented in the following content:

IV. Due to the reasons specified in Part II of this article, in case that Prime Minister is not able to carry out the powers of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the powers of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan shall be carried out by Speaker of the Milli Mejlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan. If the Speaker of the Milli Mejlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan is unable to fulfill the powers of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan due to due to aforementioned reasons, the Milli Mejlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan passed a decision about the fulfillment of the powers of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan by other official.

85.03% in favor, 8.56% against, 6.41% void


24. Article 1061 shall be supplemented in the following content:

Article #1061. Immunity of the Vice-President of the Republic of Azerbaijan

I. The Vice-President of the Republic of Azerbaijan enjoys immunity during the whole term of his powers.

II. The Vice-President of the Republic of Azerbaijan may not be arrested, brought to criminal responsibility except cases when he has been caught red-handed, disciplinary measures may not be applied to him by court, he may not be searched.

III. The Vice-President of the Republic of Azerbaijan may be arrested if he has been caught red-handed. In such case body detained the vice-president must immediately notify Procurator General of the Azerbaijan Republic about the fact.

IV. Immunity of the Vice-President of the Republic of Azerbaijan might be stopped only by the President of the Azerbaijan Republic, based on application of Procurator General of the Azerbaijan Republic.

85.33% in favor, 8.46% against, 6.21% void


25. Article 1081 shall be supplemented in the following content:

Article 1081. Provisions of the First Vice-President of the Republic of Azerbaijan

The Vice-President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and his family are provided for by the state. Security of the Vice-President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and his family is ensured by special security teams

85.29% in favor, 8.35% against, 6.36% void


26. Article 1101 shall be supplemented in the following content:

Article 1101. Authority to sign international interstate and intergovernmental agreements

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan can authorize Vice-President, Members of the Cabinet of Ministers and other officials to sign international interstate and intergovernmental agreements.

85.4% in favor, 8.43% against, 6.17% void


27. The context of Article 121 shall read as follows:

Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister, head of other central body of executive power of the Republic of Azerbaijan will be a citizen of the Republic of Azerbaijan, having voting right, with university degree, having no liabilities in other states.

87.21% in favor, 7.39% against, 5.4% void


28. The phrase “no younger than 30, having voting right” in the first paragraph of Article 126 shall be replaced with the phrase “having voting right”.

84.36% in favor, 8.94% against, 6.7% void


29. Article 1461 shall be supplemented in the following content:

Article 1461. Responsibility of municipalities

The municipalities and municipal servants are responsible for damage caused to human rights and freedoms in the wake of the offences or inactivity by municipal servants and their non-provision – 87.08% in favor, 7.44% against, 5.48% void.

More about:  


News Line