Azerbaijan scraps presidential term limits, paves way for Aliyev return

With more than half the votes counted by early Thursday, 92 percent of Azerbaijanis had voted in favor of lifting the restriction, Central Elections Commission chairman Mazahir Panahov told journalists.  Â

 

Wednesday’s referendum will allow Aliyev to seek to remain in the presidency indefinitely if he chooses, potentially prolonging a dynasty that has led the oil-rich country for most of the past four decades.

 

Opponents of President Ilham Aliyev boycotted the controversial referendum. Â

 

Aliyev, 47, won a second five-year term by a landslide last October, having taken over from his father Heydar, a top-ranking former Soviet official and KGB member, in 2003.

 

Heydar Aliyev was a Soviet-era leader of this state on the western coast of the Caspian Sea and president for 10 years after the country won independence in 1991. The younger Aliyev was first elected to replace his father shortly before the 80-year-olds death.

 

Supporters of the changes insisted they are aimed at making Azerbaijan more democratic by allowing voters to choose whoever they wish to be president.

 

But government critics, who have long accused Aliyev and his late father of having ruthlessly held on to power, said the vote was aimed at consolidating the grip of the first family.