Introductory speech of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev at the meeting of the commission elaborating the draft of the new Constitution of the Azerbaijan Republic - Presidential Palace, October 12, 1995


Honorable members of the commission!

Ladies and gentlemen!

The working group set up by the commission elaborating the draft of the new Constitution of the Azerbaijan Republic has done a lot of work. Based on the discussions, proposals and provisions of the constitutional commission, a draft constitution has been elaborated by the working group. The draft has been distributed to the members of the constitutional commission. A few days have been passed since the submission of the draft. However, the commission members could not get together because of the ceremonies taken place. After I got acquainted with the draft, I expressed my proposals and conclusions to some members of the working group of the constitutional commission so they can work on them. I got acquainted with the additional work yesterday. I assume that a lot of work has been done. We are close to discuss the draft constitution and adopt it.

The draft distributed to you is the main one. But it needs revision. A lot of materials have been prepared and many ideas have been formed to work on the draft. I think that our constitution must include some provisions for sure. I am speaking on the draft constitution you have got. For instance, the preamble of the draft needs to be elaborated. Thoughts on our national statehood traditions and the independence of Azerbaijan must be reflected in the preamble. The preamble must also be related with the Constitutional Act on the State Independence of Azerbaijan.

The constitution we are about to adopt must be the first and long-term constitution of Azerbaijan. I wish it could be a permanent constitution, but we can elaborate it so that it will function for a long time. Thus, some provisions in the preamble and articles of the draft constitution should be more precisely defined and expanded.

The draft constitution constitutes of many articles on human rights and freedoms. They should be more specified and improved. At the same time, there are sufficient articles on the duties of citizens in the draft version. However, I consider that those duties should be expressed more precisely and the relevant articles should be improved and expanded.

Azerbaijan includes the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic.Articles on the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, its status and government must be elaborated and added to the draft. There are some other opinions, too. I had conveyed them at the meeting with the members of the working group and they have prepared relevant materials. It would be better if the members of the constitutional commission convey their ideas, additions, proposals and use the materials prepared as a result of my work with the members of the working group. We work on the draft today and tomorrow in order to make it ready for adoption. If anyone has proposals and ideas, please share them. We have to work today and tomorrow.

Concluding speech

October 14, 1995

Honorable members of the commission!

Ladies and gentlemen!

It is the next meeting of the commission elaborating the draft of the new Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan today. We held the first meeting of the constitutional commission on June 5. The members of the commission and the working group set up by the commission have been regularly working on the draft version. The working group has been working, the commission has had five meetings and discussions have been conducted every time. It is the sixth meeting of the constitutional commission. At the October 12 meeting of the commission we discussed the comprehensively prepared draft and confirmed it. At the same time, there were discussions and proposals on this draft. Thus, we assigned the working group to continue its work related to the proposals and recommendations. The work is under way.

The draft constitution was resubmitted after the proposals offered at the meeting of the commission last night. As I am informed, the final draft was distributed to all members of the commission at 10 am today. I hope you have looked through the draft and you are familiar with the changes and additions. Personally I think that the draft constitution is ready.

Translated from "Azerbaycan" newspaper, October 15, 1995