Additions and amendments were made to the Constitution of Azerbaijan, adopted in 1995, in 2002, 2009, and 2016. Is it still necessary to have any updates in the Constitution of Azerbaijan now?
Speaking to Medianews.az on the topic, Chairman of the Political Committee of the Republican Alternative (REAL) Party and economist Natiq Jafarli stated that there is a need to update the constitution: “First of all, the country’s administrative-territorial division should be renewed, and the administrative-territorial units should be changed. There is no necessity to have so many districts in such a small country in terms of territory. There is a presidential decree regarding economic regions. There are 14 economic regions in the country. It is very important to convert these economic regions into administrative-territorial units. This would improve governance.
The second step is the abolition of district-city executive authorities, strengthening local self-governance, providing municipalities with additional powers, and increasing the participation of elected bodies in local governance. A negative background has developed regarding executive authorities in districts and cities. There is a need to eliminate this. In recent years, several responsible persons of executive authorities have been arrested for corruption offenses. People are dissatisfied with this institution, and the issue of its abolition has already matured.”
N. Jafarli emphasized the transition to a proportional election system as the third step. He noted that this is very important: “Because it is necessary to restore the proportional election system in Azerbaijan to increase the participation of political parties in state governance and ensure their maturity. If this happens, a real ideological-political struggle will open among political parties in the country, and the parties’ dependence on individuals and personalities will be eliminated.
The next step is to increase the role of parliament in solving socio-economic issues. That is, the socio-economic bloc should be more closely connected and accountable to parliament. The President is the head of state in Azerbaijan and the leader of important state structures. This is true and should be so. However, the role and position of the government are still unclear. Therefore, the place and role of the Cabinet of Ministers should be clarified in the constitution.”
According to N. Jafarli, these are the fundamental issues that necessitate updating the constitution: “But naturally, there are other points as well.”
Lawyer Gulamhuseyn Alibeyli said in his statement to Medianews.az that he does not expect any radical change to the constitution under the current circumstances: “Because the mechanisms related to power and the organization of power in the constitution have been worked out quite precisely and in favor of the executive power. Other matters can be considered more or less normal, but it is possible to consider the likelihood of constitutional change in the future.”
According to G. Alibeyli, changes may mainly occur in two directions: “Firstly, the abolition of the Cabinet of Ministers. Because the Cabinet of Ministers is envisaged as a kind of higher body under the President. But if we look at the experience of other countries, we see that the presidential system of governance excludes the presence of a structure like the Cabinet of Ministers in between. Therefore, the Cabinet of Ministers in Azerbaijan may be abolished, and in this case, the constitution must definitely be amended. Because the Cabinet of Ministers is an organ reflected in the constitution.
Secondly, changes may be related to the election system. According to the current constitution, the National Assembly is formed only based on elections held on a majoritarian basis. Suppose a mixed election system is reinstated in the country, that is, the parliament is formed both on a majoritarian and proportional election basis, then the constitution must necessarily be changed. However, I do not believe this will happen in the near future. I think such a change could happen in the distant future.”
Naile Gasimova,
Medianews.az
