AZERIS VOTE FOR SCRAPPING PRESIDENTIAL TERM LIMITS

PanARMENIAN.Net
19.03.2009 13:46 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Voters in Azerbaijan have overwhelmingly supported
scrapping presidential term limits, the country’s top election official
said Thursday.

Opponents of President Ilham Aliyev boycotted Wednesday’s
constitutional referendum, calling it a new setback for democracy in
the firmly controlled nation. Abandoning term limits will allow the
47-year-old president to seek to stay indefinitely as leader of the
oil-rich nation if he chooses.

With ballots from more than half the polling places counted, 92 percent
of voters supported abandoning the current limit of two consecutive
five-year presidential terms, Central Election Commission chairman
Mazahir Panakhov said, AP reports.

The Aliyevs have dominated the tightly controlled former Soviet state
for decades, first under the late Heidar Aliyev as Communist leader
and president, then under his son Ilham since 2003.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress