The Milli Majlis Committee for Regional Affairs had its first meeting in the autumn parliamentary session on 22 September.

Committee Chairman Siyavush Novruzov announced the Committee activity report for the 2021 spring and extraordinary sessions and the work plan for the 2021 autumn session. The Committee, he said, had gathered six times to discuss 16 issues including the 14 Bills eventually recommended for submission at the Milli Majlis plenary sittings during the two sessions past.

In the same period also, the Committee heard the annual report by the Municipality Activity Administrative Oversight Authority, arranged a discussion with the Monitoring Committee of the European Congress of Local and Regional Authorities about the latest reforms, advances and problems in the field of local and regional governance in Azerbaijan and conducted the online conferences themed ‘The Progress Perspectives of Local Self-Government in Azerbaijan: the Current Situation and the Tasks Ahead’, ‘Heydar Aliyev and the Powerful Azerbaijan’ and ‘Our Independence is Eternal, Permanent and Irreversible’. Other functions went under the aegis of the Committee, too.

Next, Mr Novruzov mentioned the total of 4,699 appeals that had been addressed to the Committee and to its individual members in the period in question; the majority of the issues thus raised had been resolved. The members of the Committee for Regional Affairs had made numerous social and mass media appearances covering the topics of significance to the country; they had taken part in various events and meetings of the international organisations and inter-parliamentary friendship groups they are in. Also, they gained the first-hand knowledge and manifested the genuine interest in the problems of the vulnerable social strata including shahid families and gazi in their respective constituencies.

Siyavush Novruzov said whilst commenting on the scope of work made for the autumn session that there would be discussions of the Bills submitted to the Milli Majlis as legislative initiatives and of the amendments to a number of effective laws with a view to streamlining the existing legislation. Withal it is planned to arrange hearings involving concerned offices and local governance bodies.

The Committee members Nizami Jafarov, Sabina Hasayeva, Aghil Mammadov, Kamran Bayramov and Tahir Rzayev and Head of the State-Building and Administrative and Defence Legislation Department of the Milli Majlis Staff Haji Mirhashim Seyid made their relevant opinions known. Moreover, they suggested ideas regarding restoration of historical place names in the de-occupied territories, arrangement of the municipalities’ work and other matters.

Deputy Chairman of the Committee for Regional Affairs Elshan Musayev and the MPs Mazahir Efendiyev, Emin Hajiyev, Malik Hasanov, Sattar Mehbaliyev, Javid Osmanov and Aliabbas Salahzade took part in the meeting held remotely as well.

The Press and Public Relations Department

The Milli Majlis