An extraordinary parliamentary session of 3 August was declared open by the Chair of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova and the National Anthem of the Azerbaijan Republic was sounded then.

Madame Chair told the assembly that Prosecutor General of the Azerbaijan Republic had applied to the Milli Majlis on 30 July for termination of the parliamentary immunity for MP Eldaniz Adil oglu Salimov in keeping with Part II of Article 90 of the Constitution of the Azerbaijan Republic. As per Part I of Article 22 of the Internal Charter of the Milli Majlis, the legislature has seven days in which to consider such applications from prosecutor general. Hence today’s extraordinary parliamentary session, called at the request of 53 MPs, Mrs Gafarova explained.

Prosecutor General of the Azerbaijan Republic Kamran Aliyev who spoke next mentioned his application for termination of the parliamentary immunity of MP Eldaniz Salimov (Khachmaz Town Election District no 55). There are ample grounds for the application to have been served. The Milli Majlis Disciplinary Commission reviewed the application and passed an appropriate conclusion on it yesterday.

Prosecutor General’s Office has examined the files on MP Eldaniz Salimov and opened an occurrence under Article 309.2 (misfeasance) of the Criminal Code of the Azerbaijan Republic. The criminal case is put in the charge of the Investigation Department of Prosecutor General’s Office. The judicial scrutiny is in the active phase right now and requires Eldaniz Salimov’s immunity to be abolished to go on.

Then, Chairman of the Milli Majlis Disciplinary Commission Eldar Ibrahimov presented the Commission’s conclusion whereby there is sufficient warranty for stripping MP Eldaniz Salimov of the deputy immunity and for this issue to be brought up for discussion at a plenum of the Milli Majlis.

First Deputy Chair of the Milli Majlis Ali Huseynli, the committee chairmen Musa Guliyev, Zahid Oruj, Tahir Rzayev and Bakhtiyar Aliyev as well as the MPs Gudrat Hasanguliyev, Malahat Ibrahimghizi, Erkin Gadirli, Tahir Karimli, Aydin Mirzazade, Razi Nurullayev, Ilham Mammadov, Hikmat Mammadov, Fazail Agamali and Sabir Rustamkhanli commented on the matter at hand. The speakers underscored the successful work done by the sixth-convention Milli Majlis under the leadership of Speaker Sahiba Gafarova from day one and highlighted the extremely important decisions and laws passed. They also spoke of how fine was the parliament’s performance of its duties during the 44-day Patriotic War. The sixth-convention Milli Majlis is a parliament to have witnessed the splendid victory won in the Patriotic War, the parliamentarians pointed out.

Prosecutor General Kamran Aliyev took the floor again then to clarify the matters broached by the MPs and to answer their questions.

Summing the session up, Chair Sahiba Gafarova noted that it is a great honour to be an MP and, especially, a greater honour yet as well as a token of immense trust in a state governed by such wise politician and statesman as the President of the Azerbaijan Republic Mr Ilham Aliyev is.

The esteemed Ilham Aliyev is the leader who brought our nation to prevail in the Patriotic War. It was under his leadership that the Azerbaijan Republic has to date covered a remarkable development path, made achievements in all the walks of life and is going to secure yet more outstanding successes yet, according to Madame Speaker.

We all remember the programme speech of our esteemed President delivered at the first sitting of the sixth-convention Milli Majlis held on 10 March 2020, Mrs Gafarova continued. Then, the Head of State voiced his recommendations as to structuring the parliamentary work whilst also defining the demands put to the Milli Majlis members.

Mr President said, ‘The newly-formed Milli Majlis must be morally impeccable because this is the essence of our staple reforms. On close scrutiny, our citizens will notice that the staff now being appointed to positions within the political, structural and HR reforms are pure. That is, there is no negative trail behind them, so to speak. The Milli Majlis and its members must meet the same criteria.’

Sahiba Gafarova pointed out that, in the past year and a half almost, ‘we all together have tried to build the work of the parliament on the basis of those recommendations in the speech of the Head of State. The Milli Majlis has become one of the state bodies at the forefront of the reforms that our esteemed President is carrying into life.’

‘Each of us ought to understand clearly that to be a member of the legislative body, to be an MP means to bear serious responsibility. The way an MP follows the effective laws and decisions of the executive authorities determines his or her maturity as a political and public person as well as an individual in the focus of popular attention. An MP must not set himself or herself above anybody whosoever but his or her manner of speech and conduct should set an example for others to follow,’ Mrs Gafarova said.

The Chair of the Milli Majlis expressed her deep regrets at the MP having done what is below his title. The discussion of the matter has shown there are sufficient grounds for the inbound application of the Prosecutor General to lift the parliamentary immunity of this MP. And the same follows from the judgement given by the Disciplinary Commission.

After that, the draft resolution to terminate the immunity of MP Eldaniz Adil oglu Salimov was put on vote and approved.

Speaker Sahiba Gafarova declared the extraordinary session of the Milli Majlis closed. The National Anthem of the Azerbaijan Republic was played.

The Press and Public Relations Department
The Milli Majlis