Parliament news

PFPA REFORMERS TO WORK IN THREE DIRECTIONS IN PARLIAMENT

Leader of the PFPA reform wing Ali Karimov told journalists last week of the work members of the party would engage in while in parliament.

First of all, they will strive to achieve recognition of the fact that the very election was falsified. Secondly, he said, they will lobby for the release of political prisoners, and, thirdly, for the solution of social problems of the population, raising salaries and strengthening social foundation of the nation.

He indicated that MPs from his party would be maintaining cooperation with the Council of Europe and try to achieve palpable results.

US URGES AZERBAIJAN FOR CO-OP WITH OSCE ODIHR

Ambassador David Johnson, U.S. permanent representative to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), commended the work of the OSCE Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) January 11 for its election monitoring efforts in the region.

In a statement to the OSCE Permanent Council, Johnson pledged that the United States "is committed to supporting ODIHR as it carries out this important work," and he urged all members of the Permanent Council "to provide continued financial and personnel resources to allow this important institution to effectively meet our collective obligations."

Johnson also called on the Azerbaijan authorities to continue their cooperation with ODIHR and to address the problems noted in their January 7 repeat parliamentary elections.

"On Azerbaijan, we agree that the January 7 repeat parliamentary elections do mark some improvement over those that were held on November 5. We encourage both the government and the opposition to work together to develop an atmosphere of trust and reconciliation that will enable Azerbaijan to move forward in efforts to develop a participatory democracy."

AUTHENTICITY OF BALLOT PROTOCOLS STILL BEING QUESTIONED

PNIA intends to submit the ballot protocols it has collected from district election commissions to relevant bodies of the COE and to have suspected fraud cases investigated, the PNIA deputy chairman Maharram Zulfugarli told Azernews Thursday.

According to him, the party didn't do this earlier as it was awaiting Azerbaijan's admission to the Council of Europe. He added that the authorities had done their best to be denied acceptance to the authoritative international organization in order to blame the failure on the opposition.

Commission approves

amnesty draft

The permanent parliamentary commission on state building and legal policy focused on the draft law "On amnesty on the occasion of Azerbaijan's admission to the COE" Friday. The document was submitted by President Aliyev to the parliament on January 16. Some 9,000 people are to be pardoned.

The commissions described the draft as a humane act and unanimously voted to include it into the agenda of the Milli Mejlis session. Acting chairman of the commission Ali Husseinov said this is not the last amnesty, adding that similar acts are still anticipated.

This is the sixth amnesty initiative in the last few years. The previous 5 concerned 55,000 people, while 16,000 were released from prison.

AZERBAIJAN TO JOIN TWO INT'L CONVENTIONS

A special meeting of the parliamentary commission on international relations and inter-parliamentary contacts focused on Azerbaijan's joining two international conventions, "On combating bomb terrorism" and "On prevention of crimes with regard to people enjoying international immunity, including diplomatic agents", Thursday.

Key provisions of the former have already been included into the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan.

The decision on joining the conventions is likely to come during the summer session of the Milli Mejlis.