Deputy Chair of the Milli Majlis and Chairman of the parliamentary Committee for Public Associations and Religious Entities Fazayil Ibrahimli remarked at the first spring-session online committee meeting on 25 January that the autumn session of last year had coincided with the Patriotic War, the most memorable event for any Azerbaijani person.

The victory gained in the 44-day war thanks to the leadership of Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev and thanks also to the valour of the victorious Azerbaijani Army quenched the 30-year-old longing of the people whilst also solidifying the stances of Azerbaijan amongst the other countries of the world.

The leaders and every member of the Milli Majlis alike were making serious efforts to tell the world the truth about the war and to unveil the occupiers’ lies as the battles were flaming on. The Azerbaijani parliament did its autumn-session work to the very high standards and managed all the tasks that had stood before it in spite of the difficulties posed by the war and by the pandemic.

Having said all that, Mr Ibrahimli tabled the report about the work that the Committee had carried out during the autumn session of 2020. He commented on it by recalling that there had been 7 meetings and that 9 matters had been considered at them. Amongst all else, the Committee had discussed at the online meetings held together with the parliamentary Committee for Law Policy and State-Building in all the three readings the draft amendments to the Law ‘On Political Parties’. It was eventually recommended that the draft should be submitted for deliberations at a plenary session and the Milli Majlis passed it then. Besides, the Committee was actively involved in the discussion of the parcel of budgetary draft laws concerned with the current year.

The incoming correspondence from citizens amounted to 242 submissions; those were applications, letters, various other documents of other kinds and emails. Having sorted through them, the Committee sent 220 letters about the issues raised to different authorities seeking to have those issues resolved. Most of the applications were talked over with the concerned establishments over the phone; the problems described in the correspondence were resolved in the legally prescribed manners. Furthermore, Mr Ibrahimli added, the Committee was treating oral appeals with due sensitivity and care.

The interaction with the people was mainly limited to e-correspondence and phone-calls so as to help restrict the spread of the coronavirus infections. Thus, the Committee heard 167 people out before taking the necessary steps.

Being immediately involved in the public and political life of the country during the past session, the Committee members held a string of online meetings of the working groups for interparliamentary connections.

Deputy Chairman of the Committee Sahib Aliyev and the MPs Javanshir Pashazade, Jeyhun Mammadov, Azer Badamov and Anar Iskandarov expressed their ideas and proposals as the report was discussed. They commended the report and emphasised that all the political parties were as one supporting the policy of the president of the country and protecting the national interest at the time of war.

Having approved the report in such a way, the Committee moved on to the next agenda item: Mr Ibrahimli informed the colleagues of the work plan drafted for the spring session of 2021. The document incorporating legislative activities as well as various other activities of the Committee was approved, too, subject to the inclusion in it of the ideas that the MPs had motioned during the discussion.

The Press and Public Relations Department
The Milli Majlis