The Milli Majlis held a scheduled plenary sitting on 26 November.

The Chair of the Parliament Sahiba Gafarova opened the sitting by announcing the de-occupation and return to Azerbaijan of the Kelbajar Province on 25 November in line with the trilateral statement of the presidents of Azerbaijan and Russia and the prime minister of Armenia. Madame Speaker congratulated the MPs on the occasion, saying, ‘Long live the Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev! Long live the victorious Army of Azerbaijan!’ Then, she mentioned that the Lachin Province would be de-occupied and returned to Azerbaijan by 1 December.

Her words were met with applause.

Chair Gafarova said after the agenda of the sitting had been approved, ‘Yesterday, the Senate of France staged an unseemly political action against Azerbaijan and passed a resolution that is provocative in nature. Even a fleeting glance at that document is enough to understand just how biased it happens to be. The essence of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Highland Garabagh is rudely distorted in it; it represents an attempt to cast a shade on the Patriotic War of our nation. Besides, our country has been slandered in it. It went quite as far as the French Senate members calling for recognition of the fictitious, inexistent ‘Nagorno Karabakh Republic’ and the reversal of borders in the region to where they were in 1994.

‘The Milli Majlis ought to issue a serous statement about this resolution and this is what the first item on today’s agenda is precisely about. As you know, the negotiations intended to settle the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Highland Garabagh had been conducted for nearly 30 years. As it happens, France is one of the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group that had moderated the negotiations since 1994. One of the main reasons why those negotiations aiming to end the occupation of the Azerbaijani lands had led nowhere was exactly that the international mediators in general and France in particular had never called the aggressor its true name and had never made a difference between the occupier and the country subjected to occupation,’ Mrs Gafarova continued.

‘We have been able to witness the bias towards Azerbaijan in the attitudes of the political and state figures as well as the government authorities of France more than once over the recent time. The President and Minister of Foreign Affairs of France made it clear in their respective statements that they would unconditionally defend Armenia – once the main threat to peace in the South Caucasus and the whole of Europe and now a defeated party. All that calls into question the very neutrality of France as a co-chair whilst also giving rise to doubts as to the intentions of France in its role of a permanent member of the UN Security Council.

‘A completely new reality has set in around our region thanks to the endeavours of Azerbaijan. The trilateral statement that was signed on 10 November put an end to the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Highland Garabagh and to the occupation of the Azerbaijani lands alike. Both Russia and Turkey that command influence in the region are supportive of this reality. Even Armenia whom France is trying to advocate for has accepted this reality. I believe that France, too, should reconcile itself with the established situation, stop defending the delinquent party and side with the truth and the just party.  Let the powers playing at mean political games against Azerbaijan never hope to achieve anything by pressure and blackwash. The Azerbaijani nation shall remain united around our venerable President, clenched into one fist, and we shall derail all conspiracies against our state and nation,’ Madame Speaker was saying.

The MPs agreed to the proposal of Sahiba Gafarova. A commission under the Chairman of the Milli Majlis Committee for International Relations and Interparliamentary Contacts Samad Seyidov was formed to draft a statement of protest against the resolution of the French Senate. The MPs Javanshir Feyziyev, Amina Agazade and Fazil Mustafa joined the new commission.

This unfair and biased move of France against Azerbaijan was discussed widely at the sitting. The Deputy Chair of the Milli Majlis Fazail Ibrahimli, the committee chairmen Zahid Oruj, Bakhtiyar Aliyev and Tahir Rzayev, and the MPs Azay Guliyev, Nurlan Hasanov, Nigyar Arpadarai, Kamal Jafarov, Anar Iskenderov, Erkin Gadirli, Fazil Mustafa, Ali Masimli, Fazail Agamali, Kamila Aliyeva, Elman Nasirov, Aghil Abbas, Vahid Ahmadov, Malahat Ibrahimghizi, Sahib Aliyev, Gudrat Hasanguliyev, Aydin Mirzazade and Razi Nurullayev stressed in their speeches that they considered this step on the part of France as a token of disrespect for the territorial integrity and the international laws alike.

Next, MP Javanshir Feyziyev read aloud the draft statement and the MPs spoke approvingly of it. (The text of the statement will be circulated in the press.)

The statement of protest was endorsed unanimously and the discussion of the remaining 6 items on the agenda commenced then.

First, the First Deputy Chair of the Milli Majlis and Chairman of the parliamentary Committee for Law Policy and State-Building Ali Huseynli presented for the third reading the draft amendments to the Law ‘On Founding the Orders and Medals of the Azerbaijan Republic’ connected with the establishment of the ‘For the Victory in the Patriotic War’ orders and medals, and the Bill on the introduction of the ‘Patriotic War Hero’ title. Mr Huseynli mentioned the proposals that the MPs had put forth during the first and second readings of the documents, expressed his views on those proposals and remarked that both drafts were entirely compliant with Azerbaijan’s legislative practice concerning orders and medals.  The charters and descriptions of the new decorations encompass all the Azerbaijani statehood, Garabagh history and national attribute elements, according to Mr Huseynli.

The MPs Fazail Agamali, Aydin Mirzazade and Gudrat Hasanguliyev commented on the Bills and their excellent composition.

The Bills were put on vote and approved in the third reading one by one.

Next came up for the third reading the draft amendment to the Law ‘On the Institution of the Orders and Medals of the Azerbaijan Republic’ in view of the intended foundation of the jubilee medal ‘The Centenary (1920-2020) of the Azerbaijan State Oil and Industry University’. Ali Huseynli noted that the Committee had received no proposals during the previous readings of the Bill as well as afterwards. Following the medal’s charter, he said, it will be awarded for outstanding academic and educational achievements as well as for such achievements in the oil sector and industries, and for special contributions to the advancement of all those areas as well as for active involvement in social and cultural progress. With this medal will be decorated citizens of the Azerbaijan Republic, overseas nationals and apatrides who either are or have been employees, and/or are graduates of the organisation defined by the appropriate executive authority and who have special merits in implementing the state policies for sciences, education and international co-operation as well as in furthering the progress of that organisation defined by the appropriate executive authority.

The Bill was approved in the third reading.

Then, the Chairman of the Committee for Natural Resources, Energy and Ecology Sadig Gurbanov told of the draft amendments to the Law ‘On Protection of the Natural Environment’, being tabled in the third reading. According to Mr Gurbanov, the Bill is based on the President’s ‘Plan of Minimising the Adverse Environmental Impacts of Discarded Plastic Packaging in Azerbaijan during 2019-2020’. The Bill envisages prohibition of importation, production and trade in polythene bags with film thickness of up to 15 microns as well as of their sales or distribution to consumers at public catering and service hubs, in both cases with the effect from 1 January 2021. Furthermore, corporate importation, production and trade in disposable plastic swizzle sticks, forks, spoons, knives, plates and cups as well as their sales or distribution to consumers at public catering and other service outlets are to be restricted with the effect from 1 July 2021. Mr Gurbanov mentioned that the Committee had not received new proposals regarding the Bill following its second reading.

The Bill was put on vote and was approved in the third reading.

The First Deputy Chair of the Milli Majlis and Chairman of the Committee for Law Policy and State-Building Ali Huseynli then presented for the third reading the draft amendments to the Code of Administrative Offences. He pointed at the harmonising purpose of the document and said that it had been based on the already-enacted amendments to the Law ‘On Protection of the Natural Environment.’

The Bill was approved in the third reading.

Ali Masimli, a Member of the parliamentary Committee for Economic Policy, Industries and Enterprising, informed the gathering of the draft amendments to the ‘Motoring Transport’ Law. MP Masimli said that the amendments were of a harmonising nature. The security monitoring of motoring transport, of passenger and cargo haulage, of operation and maintenance of the motor vehicles in use and the supervision of state regulation in this area are to relegated to the State Motoring Transport Service under the auspices of the Ministry of Transport, Communication and High Technologies and to the public legal entity Baku Transport Agency. The security monitoring and the state regulation supervision done in Sumgait and Ganja shall be relegated to Sumgait Transport LLC and Ganja Transport LLC respectively, both of which companies are subordinated to the executive authorities of the correspondent cities. Considering that the bodies charged with this area are an executive authority, a public legal entity and the limited liabilities companies, it is motioned that the wording ‘the appropriate executive authority body’ should be replaced with the wording ‘the body (organisation) assigned by the appropriate executive authority body’ in Item 26.4.

The Bill was put on vote and approved.

That concluded the plenary sitting of the Milli Majlis.

The Press and Public Relations Department
The Milli Majlis