During his speech at the celebration of the Day of frontier guards on Sunday, President Heydar Aliev stated officialy that he would come forward as a candidate for president in 2003. According to the president he takes into consideration neither the opertion of the heart that he has had recently nor the fact that he will be 80 years old in 2003. So the current president intends and is ready to lead the country for the third period.
But according to the fifth point of 101 article of the Azerbaijani constitution '' no one can be elected president of Azerbaijani Republic more than twice''. Aliev appeals to other point of the Constitution that stipulates that the Constitution becomes valid after its adoption by the referendum and after its official publication. The followers of Azerbaijan's head think that the restriction applies to presidents elected after the Constitution adoption. Aliev became the president before the adoption of the Constitution.