Leaders of the movement made speeches at the meeting.
Speech of ALP Leader Prof. Dr. Lala Shevket:
Dear ladies and gentlemen!
It is quite clear today that the representatives of the government have no arguments to present to us. Either knowingly, or because of ignorance, they start to lie. We at the same time are determined in our truth. Great philosopher Hegel was saying that truth is the truth and it needs no addition. Great physicist Nils Bor answered to that: "The truth needs one addition - clarity". That is why I want to clarify our truths, answering certain claims of the government.
First, the government says that this referendum, its basic idea being eternal presidency, is a social order. But any person with a head on his shoulders knows that the referendum represents solely the desire of one particular party, the Yeni Azerbaijan Party, to remain in power forever. Thus, the document they are about to change seizes to be a constitution for the state and becomes a constitution for a government controlled by one party.
Second, the government says that the amendment to Article 101 of the Constitution, that is to lift the two-term limitation on presidency, is the call of the times, and that such amendments are often introduced in other countries. Answering that, I would like to say that changes concerning presidential authority are introduced to constitutions quite rarely. For instance, there have been 24 amendments to the US Constitution in its almost 220 year history, and only one of these concerned the presidency, the one that restricted the right to be elected president to two terms. Only two changes concerning presidency has been made to the French Constitution in the last 50 years, both restricting. In the first place the presidential term has been reduced from 7 years to 5 years, and in the second, the two-tern limitation has been installed. Thus, there is no civilised country in the world where a president can be elected without any restrictions to the number of time that can happen. After all we must remember that the constitution is not a costume, so that any new person in power can rip it and re-sew to his own size. As for such an amendment being adopted, it has been done in Zimbabwe, Uganda, Belarus, Turkmenistan and Venezuela. All these countries are now backward countries ruled by dictators.
Third, the government says that, so what if there is eternal presidency or monarchy, there are monarchies in Europe, and they are developed democracies. Yes, it is true that out of 27 member states of the European Union 7 are constitutional monarchies. These are Britain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Luxemburg and Spain. In Europe Norway is also a monarchy. Outside Europe such democratic nations as Canada, Australia and Japan are monarchies. But in essence these are all parliamentary republics. That is, monarch has a merely symbolic character without any authority. The state is ruled by a popularly elected prime minister completely answerable to the parliament and under constant threat of being removed by the parliament from power. Therefore governments usually change very often in such countries, every 3-4 years on average.
Fourth, the government says that political leaders in Europe come to power repeatedly. Let us clarify this. Yes, they often change, they come back to power repeatedly, because the overwhelming majority of these countries, including Turkey, are parliamentary republics (or parliamentary monarchies, in a formal sense), and these political leaders are prime pinisters. I would like to remind that when Azerbaijan has become the first republic in the muslim East 90 years ago, it was precisely the parliamentary republic.
Fifth, the government says that, so what if the two-term restriction is lifted, president comes to power by means of elections anyway, the nation elects him. Tell me now, whether there has been at least one free and democratic election in Azerbaijan? Not once! All the international organisations confirm that. After the last parliamentary election there even has been such a phrase in the US Department of State 2006 report: "... Azerbaijani people are deprived of the right to change the government by peaceful means".
Taking all the aforementioned into consideration we call upon you to boycott this referendum. Boycott is an act of protest. We could have said, go to the polling stations and vote against these amendments. But the whole election process is under monopoly of the authorities. So, results are already determined in spite of you votes. Therefore only turnout can be a definite proof for us. As you know, quorum in the referendum is 25 percent of voters, and the government will try to make a big deal of the turnout. That is why we call upon you to refrain from participation in the referendum. This will be your "NO" to these amendments, to monarchy, dictatorship, to the all-embracing corruption, to the constant violation of your rights, to injustice.
PHOTOS
14.03.2009