Appeal to Europe

APPEAL TO EUROPE

Petition against Removal of Term Limits on Presidency in Azerbaijan

We want to express our grave concerns at the recently initiated legislative process of amendments to the constitution of Azerbaijan Republic including the removal of two term limits on any person serving as president. The referendum scheduled to be held on 18th of March would be a notable step by Azerbaijani government towards authoritarianism and away from democracy.

During the past decade, Azerbaijan became a strategic partner with the European Union in energy, trade, security, and other areas and, along with other countries of South Caucasus region, is a member of the Council of Europe and a potential participant of Eastern Partnership initiative of EU. Thus, it is imperative for Azerbaijan to adopt the universal values and ideals of democracy, rule of law and peaceful transfer of political power through free expression of people's will the very fundamental principles shared by all civilized European countries.

Having term limits on the highest executive office in the country is an important safeguard against indefinite one-person rule in such a developing democracy as Azerbaijan, where the tradition of government change by election process is not firmly established yet. Creating environment for emergence of alternative forces capable of leading the country, a graceful exit and transfer of power to the next person without violence and political turmoil would be very important indicators of successful presidency by the current leadership. It is vital for Azerbaijan to establish such a precedent of lawful transition.

Removing presidential term limits will greatly diminish the future prospects for democracy and free elections in Azerbaijan, strengthen the authoritarian image of its government and damage the country's international standing. Such turn of events will be detrimental for the development of open and peaceful societies in that part of the world, contribute to the general instability in the region. These trends would negatively affect the partnership projects and energy cooperation between EU and Azerbaijan in the long run and the integration process of South Caucasus countries into European Union.

We appeal to the leadership of European Union, members of the EU Parliament, members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, representatives of civil society and media in Europe to consider our concerns and urge the Azerbaijani leadership to stop the process of removing term limits on presidency, thus demonstrating their commitment to the supremacy of democratic process, national statehood and civil society over the goal of keeping power in the hands of specific individuals or groups.