Azerbaijan, Ganja, Jan. 23 / Trend , V.Mammadov /
Four referendum initiative groups were established in Ganja - Gulustan, Metallurg, Kapaz and Nizami.
"The groups received referendum membership lists from the constituencies and are gathering signatures," a source told Trend .
Under the Azerbaijani Election Code, 40,000 signatures must be gathered to register an initiative group.
Seventeen initiative groups have been registered in election committees.
A total of 13 initiative groups have sent notifications to the Central Election Commission (CEC). Almost all of them were issued referendum membership.
In late December, Azerbaijan's parliament passed a decision to hold a referendum March 18 to amend the Constitution. It was decided to hold a referendum to amend 29 articles in the Constitution.
According to Article 152, the Constitution can only be amended via referendum. Additionally, Article 153 states that if the parliament or president proposes an amendment, the Constitutional Court must reach its own conclusions regarding the proposal before the referendum vote.
Earlier, NAP Deputy Executive Secretary Mubariz Gurbanli told Trend that the opposition initiative groups would be ineffective.
"Our Ganja group unites 57 people and represents the Musavat party," Ganja opposition figure Jahangir Amirkhanli told Trend .
Amirkhanli said the referendum membership lists will be represented to the CEC on Jan. 25.
Musavat was founded in October 1911 in Baku. During the third congress at the Republican Palace in Baku on Nov. 7, 1992, Isa Gambar was elected chairman. Gambar was the parliamentary speaker in 1992-1993 and presidential candidate during the 2003 elections. The party has four members in parliament.
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