The Milli Majlis Committee for Youth and Sports held its first meeting (online) in the spring parliamentary session on 22 January.

Deputy Chair of the Milli Majlis and Committee Chairman Adil Aliyev began with congratulating the MPs on the victory in the Patriotic War. He said that our courageous Army led by the victorious Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev had written its name in the historical annals by ridding the lands of the country from the long-lasting occupation. President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan is the architect of this achievement, which came as a logical outcome of his equally long-lasting successful policy, Mr Aliyev said. The historical developments had shown once more that the people of Azerbaijan are a great people with a strong will power. Being merciful, they at the same time have the fists of iron at the enemy’s peril.

According to Deputy Speaker, the Milli Majlis led by Mrs Sahiba Gafarova secured very remarkable accomplishments during the 44-day Patriotic War, in that incredibly difficult period. All the MPs were united as one having closed their ranks around the Commander-in-Chief; they made the global community hear the righteous voice of Azerbaijan thanks to their press interviews and TV appearances.

Then, Mr Aliyev congratulated the colleagues on the start of the spring session and wished them success in their forthcoming work.

The Committee’s 2020 autumn session performance report was the first item on the agenda. It was presented as a journal containing colourful illustrations. As Mr Aliyev commented, the Milli Majlis had finished the year 2020 successfully on the whole while the parliamentary Committee had held 7 meetings, considered 9 matters and recommended the submission of the discussed draft laws at the plenary sittings of the Milli Majlis.

Besides, the Committee had received 201 letters, appeals and documents from the citizens as well as various authorities and organisations; 92 of the letters had been forwarded for consideration at the concerned state departments. Also during the last parliamentary session of 2020, the Committee registered 1,545 e-applications, of which 1,248 had been submitted via Facebook and other social networks and 174 via the WhatsApp messenger. As many as 1,512 matters had been resolved; incidentally, Mr Aliyev remarked, the Committee had also resolved 162 out of the 216 appeals received orally in the reported period.

The Committee members had been taking an active part in the social and political life of the country and been sensitive to the needs and aspirations of their constituents. Vice Speaker and Committee Chairman Adil Aliyev received as many as 635 citizens, both on the appointed reception days and otherwise, during the past half-year; 472 of them were the constituents from the Narimanov District while 130 had come up from other districts, provinces and towns. Appropriate action had been taken on the issues brought up at those conversations. The appeals were mainly about finding jobs and employment in general, health, household complications, arrangement works, loans, social benefits and so forth.

The Committee organised numerous events during the reported period. For instance, a joint statement about the Armenian aggression by the 51 political parties active in Azerbaijan was submitted to the Inter-Parliamentary Union at the time of the Azerbaijani side’s counteroffensive that had followed yet another provocative assault by Armenia. Besides, photographs and videos testifying to the Armenians’ insulting treatment of the mosques left back in the captured lands were demonstrated. There were meetings with the delegations of Iran, Moldova, Kazakhstan and Turkey as well as with the local organisations. Also, articles showing the real situation were published in more than 40 media in 6 countries in the Turkish, English, Russian, German and Arab languages during the 44-day war. Besides, there were interviews to Turkish mass media and active appearances in the Azerbaijani ones.

Further, the Committee members were treating the families of the servicemen either killed or handicapped in action with utmost care and sensitivity. They met with such families and aided them. Their meetings with the wounded veterans and the men in the active service gave the latter a serious moral support.

The Committee’s work plan for the spring session 2021 was considered then. It incorporates discussions of the Bills to arrive at the Milli Majlis from the superior offices, draft amendments to several laws, the Bill ‘On Protection of the Reproductive Health’ and the youth-related provisions of the Tertiary Education Bill. In addition, the plan provides an ample space for arranging variously-themed events that will be associated with the social and political highlights of the country.

All the speakers mentioned during the discussions that followed how our patriotic youth had shown the great valour and had achieved the victory in the battles under the guidance of the Commander-in-Chief.

Deputy Chair of the Committee Shahin Ismayilov and the MPs Mushfig Jafarov, Jala Ahmadova, Konul Nurullayeva, Ulvi Guliyev, Shahin Seyidzade, Javid Osmanov, Sevinj Huseynova and Mahir Abbaszade voiced their ideas and proposals. They all praised the work the Committee had done during the autumn session and underscored the broad thematic coverage of the spring-session plan and its relevance to the current issues and affairs. Several proposals sounded about aligning the legislation with the new challenges and conducting a number of events (mainly those concerned with young people).

The performance report was approved following the intensive deliberations; the work plan of the current session was approved, too, complete with the proposals made while it had been discussed.

The MPs Elnur Allahverdiyev, Etibar Aliyev, Vugar Iskandarov and Eldaniz Salimov and Head of the Economic and Social Legislation Department of the Milli Majlis Staff Muhammad Bazigov were taking part in the meeting as well.

The Press and Public Relations Department
The Milli Majlis