Azerbaijani parliament starts autumn session
By Mushvig Mehdiyev
Azerbaijani Parliament launched its autumn session on September 30 with discussion over legislative activities.
The members of the parliament reviewed the bills based on the documents adopted on the results of various international meetings, as well as interstate documents that Azerbaijan signed with different countries and organizations, including the EU, Italy, Morocco, Vietnam, and Uruguay.
The parliamentary sitting focused on changes to the Code of Administrative Offenses, as well as the Customs, Taxes, and Labor codes. The parliamentarians plan to discuss the changes to the laws on post, securities, entrepreneurship, insurance, currency regulation, as well as political parties and municipalities.
Addressing the meeting Deputy Parliamentary Speaker Bahar Muradova criticized international organizations for efforts to punish Azerbaijan in their reports.
"International organizations seek to punish Azerbaijan, as it is not a tool in their hands," Muradova said while commenting on the European Parliament's resolution about human rights in the country.
MP Gudrat Huseynguliyev opposed the calls to cut relations with international organizations. "We shouldn't enter into an open confrontation with the West and international organizations due to five or six people, even if they committed the most serious crimes against the Azerbaijani people," Hasanguliyev noted, calling to soften the legal procedures with regard to these people.
"Public opinion is formed by organizations, which are regulated by large powers," he stressed, proposing not to take these people into custody until the court hearings start.
Muradova disagreed with Hasanguliyev, however, saying that these people are not the matter of talks.
She believes that it is quite mistaken to think that one can change the position of international organizations by releasing those men. "Many organizations believe that Azerbaijan is pursuing its own policy. They want to punish us not only for this, but also for the fact that we are not a tool in their hands," Muradova said.