BAKU (Sputnik) — A constitutional referendum took place in Azerbaijan on Monday. One of the proposed constitutional amendments involved vesting the country's president with powers to dissolve the parliament in case it passes a no-confidence vote in the government twice within a year. Other dissolution scenarios included the parliament passing two motions of no-confidence in the government within one year.
"A total of 2.33 million voters voted in support of the amendment, which amounts to 87.4 percent," Panahov said during a press conference while announcing preliminary referendum results.
A total of 29 constitutional amendments were voted on in the country's third referendum since independence. These deal with issues including human rights and the powers vested in government bodies. A turnout of at least 25 percent was required for the referendum to be legitimate and a simple majority will be sufficient for the amendments to pass.
On Monday, CEC declared the referendum valid with 30.6-percent turnout. The final results will be announced on October 21.