Inter-Parliamentary Union - British Group - PARLIAMENTARY DELEGATION TO COSTA RICA & NICARAGUA, 24 SEPTEMBER to 1 OCTOBER 2005


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Delegation Reports

PARLIAMENTARY DELEGATION TO AZERBAIJAN FROM 8-13 OCTOBER 2006

Delegation

Brian Jenkins MP
Leader of the delegation
Labour

David Chaytor MP
Labour

Linda Gilroy MP
Labour

Quentin Davies MP Conservative

Rt Hon Lord Kilclooney Crossbencher

Lord Haworth
Labour

Jim Rodgers
Deputy Secretary
British Group IPU

Between Sunday, 8 October and Friday, 13 October 2006, we had a brief opportunity to look at a country and some of its people and institutions.
A country no longer at the crossroads, they have decided to become a European-style democracy. They looked at other countries around them, with Iran an Islamic Republic to the south, and decided that was not the route for them. They looked north to Russia, well they have been there before and do not want to return to a Soviet style control economy and democracy again.
Deciding where they wanted to be was relatively easy; working out how they get to that destination has been far more problematic. If you have one in eight of your population being a refugee or internally displaced, how do you first house them, feed them and absorb them into productive work and earning? They have made efforts and are now building new settlements for them.
The official Government line is that all people want is to go home as soon as possible. However, some would say that with nearly one million voters in this position the Government would be in no hurry to see them go back home.
But underneath there is a growing feeling, especially amongst the young, that they do not want to go back to a poorer way of life in the village. They prefer the lifestyle of the city, hence the recent major improvements in the living conditions of this group.
If the only economic model you have is the Soviet style, with little management or entrepreneurial experience, how do you release the energies of your people while also avoiding the Russian scenario of creating a few billionaires with the privatisation of industries? Another legacy of the Soviet style are some very poor buildings in need of major repair after 30 years, along with pollution and environmental abuse on a massive scale.
On the plus side they have oil and gas and can expect a lot of money to flow in over the next 20 years plus. A further plus is that the Government has agreed to put funds into a transparent account, so that everyone can see where the money comes and goes.
This is a major step in the right direction. The economy seems to be doing well with major construction projects in Baku, while the number of Mercedes cars, and traffic jams, tell of a newly developing middle class.
Everyone we met was friendly and open about their situation, even to the point of, “I can’t tell you the answer because we have yet to work that one out ourselves”, which showed a level of openness that would not have been there a few years ago. This is a sign of growing confidence and maybe a recognition that we are there as a critical friend.
The list of people we met was impressive:
• The President – Ilham Aliyev, who spoke in English and gave a very clear and pragmatic presentation of his country’s problems, as well as their aspirations for the future. This included information about what Azerbaijan perceives its role to be in the region and its attitude to possible integration with Europe at a future date.
• The Deputy Prime Minister – Mr Ali Hasanov. Mr Hasanov also acts as the Chairman of the State Committee for Refugees. He informed us of the number of internally displaced persons, as well as asylum seekers from Iraq, Chechnya and Palestine.
• The Foreign Minister – Mr Elmar Mammadyarov, who spoke about Azerbaijan’s attitude towards the EU and reiterated his President’s views on the country’s role in the region. He also gave us his take on Russian, Georgian and Armenian policy in the region.
• The Speaker – Mr Ogtay Asadov, who greeted us at the start of our trip and also, unexpectedly, on the last day when he expressed his disgust at the French, who had just passed through their assembly a law that makes it an offence to deny the Armenian genocide. This was a very sensitive point for Mr Asadov.
• The Chief Imam - Sheikh Allashukur Pashazade, who is a strong believer in the separation of powers between the Church and the State. He stated that he was against the use of Islam for political means.
• The British Ambassador – We had lunch with the Ambassador and received an excellent briefing from him and his staff.
• Representatives from a range of 7 NGO’s, including two young people. Most were engaged with community action or conflict resolution and peace building (with particular reference to the frozen conflict in Ngorno-Karabakh). They seemed to have the ability to come and go with reasonable ease to the conflict area – though Caucusus-wide projects run in a third party country such as Georgia seemed to be most successful.
There was broad agreement that the electoral process was not producing fair outcomes and no confidence that the general population will benefit from the oil fund – with some research/polling appearing to bear this out.
There were some contrary views as to the potential for and evidence of the spread of radical Islam. All politicians were perceived to be from the business elite and the opposition deemed to be ineffective.
It seemed to be widely believed that’s the internally displaced persons issue was being manipulated by politicians for their own ends, although reference was also made to internally displaced people having refused to be conscripted for military and health service purposes.
Disparaging reference was made to the proportion of seats on the Council of Europe now held by former communists, perhaps explaining the statement elsewhere that “the Council of Europe was now corrupt” and a matter of concern in respect of standing up for human rights.
We met members of the opposition who spent most of their time informing us of the unfair way the elections were run and the oppressive nature of the Government.
These complaints are largely accepted by the international monitors who were present at the time of the last election and who were critical of the number of apparent irregularities that occurred during the electoral process.
The opposition groups, however, are beginning to give the appearance of being able to work together on an agreed alternative programme to the Government. The main point is to attack the level of corruption within the country.
One example of the extent of corruption we were given is in education. Azerbaijan has a lot of teachers, who do not get paid very well. So if pupils want to get their work marked they pay the teacher. The more they pay, the higher the grade. This goes on even in Universities, meaning that it is not possible to tell if a student has achieved their grade through hard work or simply by paying for the grade.
Freedom of the press was also a big issue with opposition groups, as well as the way in which the Government influence the main media outlets, such as television, and the pressure it brings to the many newspapers that are in operation.
There have been instances where the law has been used to shut papers for defaming Ministers. One should be clear to differentiate between “freedom and licence” and that concept may not be entirely accepted in this country.
We visited the British Council who are doing an excellent job and one telling indication is that they have a grant of £500,000 per year, but a turnover of £1,500,000 per year, they raise £1million through contract work. Their offices are in an excellent position and very busy. We met the Azerbaijan-UK alumni association who spoke very enthusiastically about their experience with the council.
Special thanks go to HMA Dr Laurie Bristow and his staff for their full and interesting briefings that were delivered to a very high standard and their accompaniment and support on many occasions. Also to Mr Chingiz
Asadullayev MP and Mr Aydin Abbasov, who began our visit with a welcoming dinner and accompanied us for much of the trip.
I feel that as a result of this trip we have a better understanding of the problems facing both the Government and the people of Azerbaijan. Further to this, as a sense of the goals the Government wants to achieve and how they intend to meet those goals.