The voters in Azerbaijan have voted in favor of lifting the existing two-term limit on the country's presidency in a referendum, indicated the preliminary results announced by the election officials on Wednesday.
The country's election commission put the turnout for the referendum at 71%, and said that 92.2 percent of voters from 54 percent of the 5000 polling stations backed the lifting of the presidential term limit.
According to Azerbaijan's laws, a proposal submitted to a referendum needs 50-percent-plus-one ballots to be passed. The partial results released Wednesday indicate that the proposal will easily clear that hurdle.
The referendum result effectively enables incumbent President Ilham Aliyev to rule the oil-rich former Soviet republic for life, provided he keeps getting re-elected.
Aliyev had won a second five-year term last October with nearly 89% of ballots cast. With the favorable referendum result, Aliyev will now be able to extend his presidency beyond 2013.
In 2003, Aliyev succeeded his late father Heydar; a former local KGB chief who ruled Azerbaijan for more than 30 years, first as a Soviet-era Communist Party boss and then as president.
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