Another scheduled plenary sitting of the parliament, attended by Prime Minister Ali Asadov and other members of the Government, went under the chairmanship of the Speaker of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova on 3 December.

First, the Chair of the Milli Majlis mentioned the crash of the State Frontier Service military helicopter at the proving grounds in the Khizi Province on 30 November that had claimed the lives of fourteen servicemen and had injured two more. Sahiba Gafarova asked the Almighty to rest the dead men’s souls in peace and grant the injured ones speedy recovery. The Milli Majlis had a minute of silence in memoriam at her suggestion.

Then, Sahiba Gafarova gave the assembly an account of the trips of our parliamentary delegations to St Petersburg and Moscow.

As for the working voyage to St Petersburg on 24-26 November, it was to take part in the meeting of the IACIS Council and the 53^rd plenary sitting of the PA, and the first event that went with the participation of the Azerbaijani delegation was an international conference held on 25 November and dedicated to the relevant topic of comprehensive coverage by health care services and sustainable development. In her speech at that conference, Sahib Gafarova touched on Azerbaijan’s contribution to the global effort aimed at the COVID-19 pandemic, how the plague is being countered in our country, the input by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation helmed by First Vice President Mehriban Aliyeva and the achievements of the national health care system, amongst other things.

Sahiba Gafarova told the House that, speaking at the 53^rd plenum of the IACIS held on 26 November, she had commented on a number of listed items and, at the same time, had told her audience of the large-scale restoration and rebuilding work afoot in the territories liberated after the 44 days’ Patriotic War and the victory in it. Azerbaijan had repeatedly invited Armenia to begin the joint work on a peace accord and on delimiting and demarking the state borders with the mutual territorial integrity recognition, Mrs Gafarova told the audience in St Petersburg. We want stability and well-being across the whole region; we want to talk about peace and the future rather than war, the leader of the Azerbaijani parliament stressed in her speech in Russia.

The visit to Russian Federation also included a number of bilateral meetings: with Chair of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of RF Valentina Matviyenko, Chair of the Senate of Uzbekistan’s Oliy Majlis Tanzila Narbayeva, Director for Europe of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies Birgitte Bischoff Ebbesen and Director of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Office for Europe Hans Kluge.

All those conversations proved fruitful. They covered such highlights as the four thousand missives of Garabagh War I, the new state of affairs in the region consequent to our victory in the 44 days’ Patriotic War, the restoration and rebuilding of the de-occupied Azerbaijani lands, Armenia’s evasion of minefield maps’ disclosure as well as delimitation and demarcation of the borders.

Then, Mrs Gafarova continued, on 26-28 November had been the working visit to Madrid for the 143^rd assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the inaugural session of the Parliamentary Network of the Non-Aligned Movement. Challenges to democracy were brought forth for discussion at the 143^rd assembly of the IPU on 27 November. Speaking at the assembly, Sahiba Gafarova said that the period that we were passing through right now with its rough challenges put a heavy burden on global community. The national parliaments, too, should organise their work with a view to the demands put by the new state of affairs. The global community ought to rely on its experience to be ready for further steps in the pandemic period and focus on the post-COVID-19 restoration more.

President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan had come up with the initiative of setting up a High-Level Panel on Global Recovery from the COVID-19 under the aegis of the United Nations. Such a panel would focus on preparing recommendations on global measures for post-pandemic period, Mrs Gafarova told the listeners in the Spanish capital.

The Trilateral statement signed by the leaders of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia on 10 November 2020 had put an end to the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, stressed the Chair of the Azerbaijani parliament. That conflict is history past now. Now, a peace treaty should be put in the works and a border delimitation and demarcation process be started on the principles of mutual sovereignty and territorial integrity recognition. Hopefully, the latest meeting of the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia held on 26 November will produce tangible results and provide for a peace treaty to be signed and the region’s communications to be restored. Azerbaijan’s having liberated 20% of its internationally recognised territory after almost three decades of the Armenian occupation had enabled our country to set into motion extensive work to restore those provinces – the work that will make certain that the 1 million of our IDPs get back home eventually, the Speaker of the Milli Majlis told her audience in Madrid.

The inaugural meeting of the Parliamentary Network of the Non-Aligned Movement, attended by up to 200 delegates from almost 50 countries, took place in Madrid on 28 November upon the instance of the President of the Azerbaijan Republic. Sahiba Gafarova opened the session, saying that the aim that the founders of the Non-Aligned Movement had in mind when they built this forum sixty years ago consisted in promoting peaceful coexistence and sustainable development of all nations in total compliance with the Bandung Principles. Their far-reaching wisdom and determination resulted in the establishment of the second largest international organisation.

Speaking further at the same meeting, Sahiba Gafarova told the delegates that the State and of Government Heads had decided at the Baku Summit of the Organisation held on 25-26 October 2019 to broaden and deepen interaction and co-operation with the parliamentarians of their countries. It is based on the understanding and the recognition of the dramatic part that parliamentarians can play in ensuring the complete and effective compliance with the fundamental principles of the Movement that the Azerbaijani Chairmanship initiated the emergence of the NAM Parliamentary Network. The new entity is expected to make an input of its own to enhancing the awareness of the Movement’s ideas and principles and to promotion of those ideas and principles amongst and within the populations of the NAM Member States. Besides, the Network can serve as a co-operation site for the parliamentarians of those states.

Moreover, the Network would create an opportunity for the exchange of parliamentary experience in the field of peace, security, human rights and development, and would also ensure parliamentary support to the implementation of commitments and obligations undertaken by the NAM Member States pursuant to the declarative documents of major NAM events, Sahiba Gafarova was saying. This platform would provide a forum for the input of parliamentarians in addressing the issues of common concern, it was added.

Madame Chair told the House that 17 participants had spoken at the meeting that she had been moderating. The IPU Chairman and Secretary General, GNAT Chairman, Chairman of the National Assembly of Pakistan, Chairman of the Council of Representatives of Indonesia, Chairman of the National Assembly of Namibia, Chairman of the House of Representatives of the Federal Parliament of Nepal, Chairman of the Parliament of the Kingdom of Morocco, Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council of Russian Federation, the Vice Speakers of the Parliaments of Iran and Yemen as well as the delegates of the governments of Egypt, India, Cuba and several other countries and secretaries general of the international organisations and others underlined the significance of the inception of the NAM Parliamentary Network and wished the new international unit success. The meeting culminated in the adoption of the Madrid Declaration about the inception of the NAP Parliamentary Network and the declaration made by Sahiba Gafarova that the next event of the PN would be taking place in Baku the coming year.

Concluding her account, Sahiba Gafarova told the MPs of the bilateral conversations she had had in Madrid with the GNAT Chairman Mustafa Şentop, Chairman of the National Assembly of Pakistan Asad Qaiser, Chairman of the Arab Parliament Adel bin Abdulrahman Al Asoomi and others. Those conversations revolved around the most important co-operation aspects.

Returning to the plenary sitting of the Milli Majlis, its participants, having listened to the narrative about the above-said travels and meetings, proceeded to adopt the 33-item agenda, with Madame Speaker saying that the first 22 items were the Bills in the Budget Envelope that were to be put before the House in the third reading today.

The committee chairmen tabling the agenda items and the MPs putting in their comments all congratulated the parliamentary delegations on their successful trips to both St Petersburg and Madrid. The inception of the NAM Parliamentary Network on the initiative of President Ilhama Aliyev of Azerbaijan was referred to as a milestone and a great success of our state. The House also praised the Madrid Declaration.

Then, there was a relation concerning the 2022 State Budget Bill of the Azerbaijan Republic (in the third reading) by Chairman of the Economic Policy, Industries and Enterprising Committee Tahir Mirkishili. He told the House that the largest state budget in the independent history of the country had been discussed, thoroughly and in every aspect, at the meetings of the parliamentary committees and the parliamentary plena with the active participation of the ministers of finance and of economy, the chairmen of the CBA and the Chamber of Accounts as well as the heads of other state bodies. All the Government members had supplied the exhaustive information about the draft of the State Budget, at the committee meetings and the Milli Majlis plena alike. It being in accordance with the recommendations of the Head of State and the call of the time, this year, the Budget’s discussions are more comprehensive and go on in the inclusive format. The state authorities as well as the Economic Policy, Industries and Enterprising Committee have given expanded commentaries and clarifications in response to the questions of the MPs.

According to Mr Mirkishili, the professional deliberations upon the State Budget of the coming year spell the presence of efficient co-operation between the Milli Majlis and the Government. The MPs have reacted favourably to the drafts of both the state and the consolidated budgets during the first and the second readings. The reforms and resolute steps of the Head of State the economy of Azerbaijan has shown growth in all its areas this year, which gives a reason to forecast a continued upwardly movement as far as the 2022 State Budget is concerned. There are the arrangements in the 2022 State Budget to solidify the macro-economic stability and to maintain the required security levels and social conditions; the MPs have commended on the fact that funds are to be allocated towards the costs of all those actions from the next-year state budget, according to Mr Mirkishili.

It was further said that the state and the consolidated budgets of next year had been drawn up in keeping with the requirements of the Budgetary System Law; besides, both drafts had been publicly available for discussions. The MPs and experts have told the mass media that the 2022 Budget Bill was adequate to the forthcoming challenges and the national security needs; it has also been told that the approaching year’s budget would serve the cause of making the social protection of the population yet more robust.

Tahir Mirkishili emphasised the intended allocation of funds for accelerated reintegration of the de-occupied lands with the national economy and mentioned the favourable opinion statement that the Chamber of Accounts had released about the State Budget.

The House were told once more that the 2022 State Budget revenues were forecast to show an increase by AZN 1 bn 389 mn to AZN 26 bn 816 mn whereas the projected expenditures were to rise by AZN 1 bn 336 mn to AZN 29 bn 879 mn. The budget deficit of next year is to equal AZN 3 bn 63 mn with the GDP real growth rate expected to settle at 3.9 per cent. The price per 1 bbl of crude oil is expected at USD 50.  

The Government has taken into account a number of the relevant proposals made by the MPs, Mr Mirkishili pointed out as he supplied the Milli Majlis with the details of the changes made in the drafts. The State Budget Bill tabled in the third reading will make it possible to react to all the challenges anticipated in 2022 adequately. At the same time, it provides a solid financial pad for the state policy implemented in all the areas that it encompasses – including that of social security, according to the committee chairman.

The 2022 State Budget Bill of the Azerbaijan Republic was put on vote and approved in the third reading eventually.

It was Chairman of the Labour and Social Policy Committee Musa Guliyev who presented the draft 2022 Budget of the State Social Protection Fund. He told the House that the planned parameters of the SSPF budget would make it possible not merely to keep but also to improve the social well-being of all the citizens of the country who stand in need of social protection. Besides, it will be possible to raise pensions, allowances, the targeted social aid and the other social payments and, ultimately, raise the welfare of the citizens.

The Bill on the 2022 Budget of the State Social Protection Fund was put on vote and approved in the third reading after that.

It was Musa Guliyev, again, who presented the third reading of the 2022 Budget of the Unemployment Insurance Fund and said that it was fit to organise self-employment for a large group of the citizens who happen to be jobless right now. To wit, it will become possible to finance a self-employment programme for almost 17,000 households in 2022. The shahid families, the Garabagh gazies and the other people who require social protection will take a special place within that cohort.

The MPs voted the 2022 Budget of the UIF through the third reading then.

            The Bill ‘On the Living Wage in the Azerbaijan Republic in 2022’, with the commentary given by Tahir Mirkishili, was voted through the third reading, too.

The third reading of the Bill ‘On the Need Criterion in the Azerbaijan Republic in 2022’ was commented on by Musa Guliyev. Mr Guliyev repeated the planned increase of the criterion by AZN 30 to AZN 200 in the coming year, meaning that it will be 17.6 per cent higher than this year. This increase will further strengthen the social protection of the low-income citizens whilst also allowing a rise in the targeted social aid, both per capita and per household. In addition, it will be possible to enlarge the scope of the targeted social aid programme and, on the other hand, and again, the climbing need criterion means that this measurement will soon become redundant in the first place: future projections will issue forth from the living wage, according to Mr Guliyev.

A vote followed; the legislature approved the Bill ‘On the Need Criterion in the Azerbaijan Republic in 2022’ in the third reading.

The following Bills on the agenda were tabled by Tahir Mirkishili, First Deputy Chair of the Milli Majlis and Chairman of the Law Policy and State-Building Committee Ali Huseynli, Musa Guliyev, Chairman of the Natural Resources, Energy and Ecology Committee Sadig Gurbanov, Chairman of the Defence, Security and Counter-Corruption Committee Ziyafet Asgarov and Chairman of the International Relations and Inter-Parliamentary Connexions Committee Samad Seyidov. There were exchanges of opinions; following the discourses, all those Bills were put on vote and approved one after another as tabled.  

The draft amendments to the Tax Code and the Code of Administrative Offences were passed in the third reading, too.

Also, the MPs voted in favour of the third-reading parcels of amendments to the laws ‘On the Local (Municipal) Taxes and Fees’, ‘On Barristers and the Bar Practice’, ‘On the Social Insurance’, ‘On Cashless Settlements’, ‘On Execution’, ‘On the State Registration and the State Register of Legal Persons’, ‘On State Procurement’ and ‘On the State Duty’.

Further, the House approved in the third reading the Bill containing amendments to the Water, Customs, City-Planning and Building codes of the Azerbaijan Republic and the laws ‘On Mineral Resources’, ‘On Fishing’, ‘On the Animal World’, ‘On Environmental Protection’, ‘On Huntsmanship’, ‘On the Real Estate Register’, ‘On Veterinary’, ‘On Medications’, ‘On Physical Education and Sports’, ‘On Culture’, ‘On Maintaining Measurement Traceability’ and ‘On Licences and Permits’.

The same is true of the draft amendments (in the third reading) to the laws ‘On the Status of the Member of the Milli Majlis of the Azerbaijan Republic’, ‘On the Compulsory State Personal Insurance of the Military Personnel’, ‘On the Compulsory State Personal Insurance of the Court and Law Enforcement Authority Personnel’, ‘On the Compulsory State Personal Insurance of the Persons Serving with the Diplomatic Missions of the Azerbaijan Republic in Other Countries and at the International Organisations’ and ‘On the Social Insurance’ – as well as to the to the Service Charter of the State Customs Organs, approved with the law No 141-IIQ dated 12 June 2001.

Next, Prime Minister of the Azerbaijan Republic Ali Asadov took the floor.

PM Asadov described the foundation meeting of the Parliamentary Network of the Non-Aligned Movement held in Madrid as a historic event, on which he proceeded to congratulate both the speaker and the members of the Milli Majlis.

As he was talking about the effective discourse about the parameters of the 2022 State Budget, Mr Asadov noted that the governmental agencies had taken a number of steps according to the issues that the MPs had raised. The budget of next year – the largest in the history of Azerbaijan as an independent state – is up to the political, social and economic demands and challenges of the situation created by the glorious victory over Armenia of our valiant Army under the command of our victorious Commander-in-Chief Mr Ilham Aliyev last year, the PM pointed out.

The Government has already put together and submitted to the Head of State the working draft of the 2022-2026 Socio-Economic Development Strategy pursuant to the ‘Azerbaijan-2030: the National Priorities of Socio-Economic Development’ signed off by the President, according to Mr Asadov.

Going further, PM Asadov stressed that for next year, too, President Ilham Aliyev had set as the Government’s priorities spurring economic activity, maintaining the macro-economic stability and the stability also of the exchange rate of the national currency, the determined social protection and anti-pandemic action, restoration of the de-occupied provinces c/w their reintegration with the national economy, building up the defence capacity of the country and ensuring the food security.

The PM said regarding the MP’s in-deliberation suggestions about the infrastructures of the provinces they represent and about also the quality of the services that those matters were in the focus of the President and that the Government moved determinedly towards addressing those in due course.

The gasification of the country has reached 96.3 per cent and goes forth in all the provinces without whatever discrimination or preferential bias; accomplishing it happens to be one of the topmost goals of the Government, Mr Asadov emphasised.

He went on to underline the importance of the large-scale transport communication projects initiated in the context of the post-war future vision of the country and in the name of the provinces’ economic development. Mr Asadov also made a reference to the efforts being made to solidify the transit position of Azerbaijan.

The COVID-19 pandemic will remain the governmental focus next year, Mr Asadov added before telling the assembly about the measures to make the vaccination more efficient and faster.

According to Mr Asadov, 46 per cent of the whole State Budget of the coming year and 69 per cent of the current spending are dedicated to the social ends. The 2022 State Budget will dispose of sufficient resources to preserve the public well-being, enhance the social security and keep the relevant actions rolling; the State Budget will also be adequate for social payments and supporting low-income households and socially vulnerable citizens, all in keeping with the tasks that the President has set before the Government.

Once again, reinforcement of the social protection of the shahid families, war invalids and gazies and improvement of their social conditions are invariably within the Government’s sights.

The PM assured the legislators that the financial discipline would be tightened further so that the execution of the State Budget would be transparent and accountable and its funds would be spent yet more rationally. At the same time, there will be stronger controls in place respective those areas that enjoy considerable concessions or subsidies granted by the law-makers but give rise to certain concerns, already voiced, as to the absence of the anticipated yield from those areas.

When answering the MPs’ questions about the prices climbing in the consumer market, PM Asadov remarked that the problem at hand was mainly caused by global factors and the adverse impact of the pandemic. Special attention is being paid to eliminating the negative effects of the staple products’ up-lift in the world food market on food supplies in the country. Also, efforts are being made to reduce the dependence on imports and to ensure the national food security dependably. The Government is and will be taking every step necessary to apprehend any price increase, according to Mr Asadov.

The PM underscored the intention to continue the fruitful and constructive co-operation between the Government and the Parliament in the budgeting process. The Government and the appropriate ministries have taken notice of and will keep in view all the issues that the MPs have pinpointed in the course of the Budget deliberations; everything possible will be done to address those issues.

Ali Asadov thanked the leaders and members of the Milli Majlis for the pragmatic discussion, suggestions and recommendations.

Chair of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova, in turn, thanked Prime Minister Ali Asadov and the other members of the Government for their attendance of the legislature sittings. She wished the governmental team success in budget outturn and in acting on the other related documents.

The Parliament turned to the next items on their agenda then.

They approved the 2022 expenses budget of the Milli Majlis and the Chamber of Accounts of the Azerbaijan Republic and, in the third reading, the amendments to the Law to the ‘On the Institution of the Orders and Medals of the Azerbaijan Republic’ in connexion with the introduction of the jubilee medal ‘The 30^th Anniversary (1992-2022) of the State Customs Committee’ and of the medal ‘For Efficient Collaboration with the Customs Authorities’. 

The second-reading amendments to the ‘On the Institution of the Orders and Medals of the Azerbaijan Republic’ in view of the institution of the jubilee medals ‘The Centenary (1921-2021) of the Azerbaijan State Paedagogics University’ and ‘The 15^th anniversary (2005-2020) of the Defence Industry Ministry of the Azerbaijan Republic’ were considered and approved as well.

First Deputy Chair of the Milli Majlis and Chairman of the Law Policy and State-Building Committee Ali Huseynli proceeded to give a detailed description of the next item on the agenda, whereafter the House voted for the Bill ‘On the Repeal of the Law of the Azerbaijan Republic “On the Personal Identification Card of the Citizen of the Azerbaijan Republic aged below 15”’.

Next up, five first-reading Bills were tabled by Ali Huseynli, Arzu Naghiyev of the Defence, Security and Counter-Corruption Committee and Chair of the Culture Committee Ganira Pashayeva. The opinions of the parliamentary committees that had scrutinised those draft laws were heard, too. There was an exchange of opinions.

In the first reading was approved the Bill ‘On the Repeal of the Laws of the Azerbaijan Republic “On the Personal Identification Document of the Citizen of the Azerbaijan Republic”, “On Amending the Law “On the Residency and Factual Abode Registration””, “On Amending the Law “On Amending the Law of the Azerbaijan Republic “On the State Population Register of the Azerbaijan Republic”” and “On Amending the Certain Laws of the Azerbaijan Republic in Connexion with the Validity Term of the Personal identification Card of the Citizen of the Azerbaijan Republic aged below 15”’.

Besides, the MPs took favourably to the first-reading set of amendments to the Code of Administrative Offences of the Azerbaijan Republic. Those amendments pursue the goals of guaranteeing a redress for a violation of employee rights committed in the context of labour relations, of motivating employers restore such usurped rights rather than opt for paying the applicable fines and, last but not least, to boost the operating efficiency of the State Labour Inspection under the auspices of the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of the Population

The overview of the amendments to Article 20.14 of the Intelligence and Counter-Intelligence Law by MP Arzu Naghiyev made clear that it was proposed to transfer to the treasury account of the executive authority unit being a counter-terrorism subject 5% of the funds levied at primary inquest of a crime for the benefit of the State Budget in compensation of the damage inflicted upon the State and, in the manner prescribed by the Criminal Code of the Azerbaijan Republic, also 5% of the levy to the State Budget for absolute discharge. Such pickings would then be spent on strengthening the social protection of the aforementioned authority unit’s personnel and improving the basic infrastructure and facilities of this unit. It would be for the appropriate executive authority to determine the fashion after which such accumulated funds would be spent.

The draft amendments to the Intelligence and Counter-Intelligence Law were approved in the first reading after deliberations.

The committee chair Ganira Pashayeva said then that the first-reading draft amendments to the ‘On the Copyright and the Neighbouring Rights’ had arrived at the Parliament by way of the President’s legislative initiative. It follows from the proposed modifications in Paragraph 3 of Article 41 that governs activities of the collective property rights management entities that such entities’ operations will be controlled and kept in line with the said law’s requirements by a unit established or to be established by the concerned executive authority body.

Opinions and relevant suggestions were made; then, the Bill was voted through the first reading.

The plenum was drawing to a close when the first reading of the amendments to the Law ‘On Courts and Judges’ was tabled. First Deputy Chair of the Milli Majlis Ali Huseynli mentioned that the Bill had been motioned by the Law Policy and State-Building Committee. The essence of the amendments consists in appointment of judges in the exceptional cases stipulated in the said law’s Article 93-4. Such persons as in possession of high moral qualities, twenty years of legal service track record as well as exceptional reputations and a large work experience would be appointed by the Parliament without the tests and at the suggestion of the Judicial and Legal Council and the President of the Republic. The 20-year track records of such persons have not been recorded as pertaining to serving as a judge until now; so, the initiative that the parliamentary committee is putting forth is intended to even out this flaw. Besides, there is the favourable opinion statement given by the Ministry of Finance. Now, as the amendments are enacted, previous legal service experience of the above-said persons gained in state authorities (entities) as well as their academic or paedagogic working experience will be added to their track records as judges.

Deliberations began. The points raised by the MPs were clarified duly. The draft amendments to the Courts and Judges Law were approved in the first reading.

Opinions and suggestions were heard from the MP’s Sabir Rustamkhanli, Shahin Seyidzade, Jeyhun Mammadov, Fazil Mustafa, Siyavush Novruzov, Ziyafet Asgarov, Etibar Aliyev and Bahrouz Maharramov at today’s plenary sitting of the Milli Majlis that thus reached its conclusion.

The Press and Public Relations Department
The Milli Majlis