Congress President a.i. warns Azerbaijan against weakening its Constitution

Ian Micallef, President a.i. of the Council of Europe Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, on 16 March reiterated his call on Azerbaijani authorities to postpone the referendum on constitutional amendments, scheduled for 18 March.

"The European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission) has just adopted its opinion on draft constitutional amendments in Azerbaijan, in particular with regard to Article 146 of the Constitution, concerning local self-government. The Commission confirmed the position of the Congress, expressed in its statement of 2 March, that the draft amendment to Article 146 raises serious questions as to its conformity with certain provisions of the European Charter of Local Self-Government, ratified by Azerbaijan in 2002. The Commission also expressed its concern with regard to certain other draft amendments," he said.

"In my second letter to Prime Minister Artur Rasizade, I urged him again to postpone the referendum foreseen on 18 March to a later date, in the light of the opinion of the Venice Commission, as was already requested by the Congress Bureau on 2 March. It is clear that if the amendments are adopted without due account of the Commission's opinion, Azerbaijan will find itself in a very difficult situation with a Constitution which is not in full conformity with European democratic standards," stressed President a.i. Micallef.