USA and Norway anxious about Azerbaijan's lifting restriction of term of presidency

The embassy of Norway in Baku has made a statement on the outcomes of the March 18 referendum on amending the Constitution of Azerbaijan, which remarks that lifting the restriction on the term for one person to be President is s step away from democracy. The US embassy has noted, in its turn, that the democracy in Azerbaijan has not rooted in yet.

Let us note here that on March 31 the official press of Azerbaijan published the "Act of Referendum about Amending and Adding the Constitution of the Azerbaijani Republic", and the amendments to the Constitution came into force. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent has reported earlier that one of the basic novelties was cancellation of the restriction for one person to be elected President of the country for no more than two successive terms. Besides, a delay of presidential and parliamentary elections can be announced in case the country is at warfare.

The statement of the Norwegian embassy that arrived to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent draws attention to the fact that Norway accepts the referendum outcomes, thinking it reasonable to amend the Constitution from time to time, however, it is extremely important to make such changes under democratic processes, including full guarantee of the freedom of press and freedom of assembly.

The embassy's statement notes that the way the current referendum was held in Azerbaijan gives rise to anxiety.

The embassy has also called the authorities of Azerbaijan "to take steps towards releasing the journalists who are still in custody."

In his turn, Terri Davidson, head of the PR department of the US embassy, when making his comments on the March 18 referendum, said that "changing the Constitution or not is up to the people of Azerbaijan," however, "clear constitutional restrictions on duration of the presidential term are extremely important in the countries, where democratic structures and their cultural preconditions have not rooted in yet."

According to the US representative, his country is concerned of restricted public debates and poor understanding of the referendum questions, haste of holding it and restrictions of freedom of press and assemblies.

Mr Davidson has stated lack of clearness of certain provisions of the referendum, interference of police and local authorities during voting, overestimation of voter turnout and vague tabulation procedure. He called the government of Azerbaijan to hold a complete investigation into all violations in the course of voting.

The official Baku, meanwhile, rejects any criticism both of the content of amendments and of the referendum procedure.