Azerbaijan votes on plan to boost presidential powers

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has huge power vis-a-vis state institutions

Azerbaijanis are voting on whether to boost the powers of President Ilham Aliyev, who has ruled since 2003 and cracked down on dissent. 

The plan includes lowering the age limit for presidential candidates, creating a strong vice-presidency and extending the presidential term.

Many opposition protesters have been arrested in recent years

The opposition sees the vote as a move to cement the powers of the first family, with Mr Aliyev's wife and 19-year-old son seen as potential heirs. The ruling party dismisses the claims.

Family affairs

The constitutional changes would also create other vice-presidential posts and enable the president to dissolve parliament at any time. The referendum comes after dozens of opposition activists were arrested in the oil-rich former Soviet state.

One of President Aliyev's main opponents, Ilgar Mammadov, leader of the pro-Western opposition party ReAL, and other pro-democracy activists are still in jail.

"With this referendum he [President Aliyev] wipes out all obstacles in the way of his family members to come to power," says Ali Kerimli, chairman of the opposition Popular Front Party.

But Aydin Mirzezadeh of the ruling New Azerbaijan Party says the authorities "have no such plan".
"These are rumours and fabrications about members of the ruling family," he told the BBC.