The chairman of the Milli Majlis Regional Affairs Committee Siyavush Novruzov announced at the scheduled committee meeting on 11 February that the agenda included the first-reading Bill ‘On the Partial Changes in the Administrative Territorial Structure of Ganja City’ and a set of draft amendments, also in the first reading, to ‘The List of the Municipalities of the Azerbaijan Republic’ appended to the Law ‘On the Municipal Territories and Lands’.

Mr Novruzov tabled the aforementioned Bills as the agenda was adopted.  He mentioned that the progressive state administration reforms carried into life under the guidance of President Ilham Aliyev pursued the goal of enhancing transparency and legality and of averting such situations as might have negative impacts on the relationship between the State and its citizens. The Bills now tabled for consideration envisage partial modifications in the administrative territorial structure of Ganja and constitute a component of the on-going administration improvement reforms, according to Mr Novruzov.

The first-reading Bill ‘On the Partial Changes in the Administrative Territorial Structure of Ganja City’ envisages termination of the current city districts of Kapaz and Nizami with their elimination from the State Register of the Territorial Divisions of the Azerbaijan Republic. The Nizami District’s territorial precincts Nos 1 and 2 would temporarily be deemed subordinated to Ganja City. Also, the precincts Nos 1 and 2 as well as the currently-incorporated settlement precincts Javadkhan, Hajikend, Mehseti, Natavan, Sadilli and Shikhzamanli of the Kapaz District would be deemed, again, parts of Ganja City proper for the time being.

Mr Novruzov said about the first-reading amendments to ‘The List of the Municipalities of the Azerbaijan Republic’ appended to the Law ‘On the Municipal Territories and Lands’ that that document had been drawn up in connexion with the aforementioned changes in the territorial organisation of Ganja City, only, this one was about adjusting the list of the local municipalities in the wake of the intended dissolution of the city’s Kapaz and Nizami districts.

The overview of the Bills was followed by comments and suggestions from the deputy chairman of the committee Elshan Musayev and the MPs Tahir Rzayev, Malik Hasanov, Emin Hajiyev, Sabina Khasayeva, Nizami Jafarov, Aghil Mammadov and Sattar Mehbaliyev.

In their commentaries, the committee members described the planned liquidation of the above-said districts of Ganja with the subordination of their territories to the City Executive Authority as an extension of the reforms of President Ilham Aliyev aimed to make the governance in the country more effective and prompt. The speakers said they were certain that the introduction of centralised administration in Ganja would prove relevant in its continued development.

It was recommended after the debate to table both Bills at a plenary sitting of the Milli Majlis in the first reading.

One more committee member Aliabbas Salahzade and other officials were taking part in the meeting, too.

The Press and Public Relations Department
The Milli Majlis