The Milli Majlis Committee for Public Associations and Religious Entities held its first meeting in the autumn parliamentary session on 21 September.

Deputy Chair of the Milli Majlis/Committee Chairman Fazail Ibrahimli first put before the meeting participants the report covering the work done by the Committee during the two precedent parliamentary sessions. There had been five committee meetings at which 12 subjects had been discussed; the Bills considered at the meetings had been cleared for tabling at the Milli Majlis plenary sittings and had been enacted eventually, he said.

One of those Bills was the set of amendments to the Freedom of Faith Law, drawn up to define the relevant rights, obligations and responsibilities of the State, the citizens and the clerical institutions. Those amendments had been discussed thoroughly in the three readings at the videoconference held together with the parliamentary Law Policy and State-Building Committee and with the attendance of the Caucasus Muslim Department representatives. Passed and incorporated into the said law ultimately, the amendments had sought to bring about a more efficient legislative regulation of the existing as well as emerging relations in that field, define the relevant rights, obligations and responsibilities of the state, its citizens and religious entities and ensure there is an environment more favourable for execution of the freedom of faith.

Going further, the Vice Speaker told the assembly that the Committee had received 152 applications, letters, various documents and e-mails from citizens, various offices and organisations in the two 2021 parliamentary sessions past. All those had been considered properly before being forwarded to other agencies with a view to appropriate actions eventually to be taken. Most of the inbound correspondence subjects had been discussed on the phone with the concerned executive bodies. Some matters had been resolved ultimately.

Besides, the Committee paid a special attention to receiving citizens on a case-by-case basis; oral appeals of the visitors were listened to regularly. Necessary explanations and pertaining actions followed.

Once the Committee Chairman had been heard, the meeting participants offered their opinions about the subject-matter and the report was noted favourably then.

The 2021 autumn-session scope of work of the Committee was talked over and approved next.

A discussion of the current issues began.

It was said during the meeting that the Azerbaijani Parliament of the sixth convention carried its work out in accordance with the new realia. The speakers also referred to the public and political matters of importance to our country. Deputy Chair of the Milli Majlis/Committee Chairman Fazail Ibrahimli, his Deputy Sahib Aliyev and the MPs Javanshir Pashazade, Azer Badamov and Jeyhun Mammadov mentioned the approaching anniversary of the Victory in the 44 days’ Patriotic War that had ended the three decades of occupation. They said it was necessary to propagate in every way the triumph gained under the leadership of Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev.

The Committee members Sevinj Fataliyeva and Anar Isgandarov as well as Head of the State-Building, Administrative and Defence Legislation Department of the Milli Majlis Staff Haji Mirhashim Seyid also took part in the meeting.

The Press and Public Relations Department

The Milli Majlis