New or Old Parliament? What Has Changed?

Today, the first session of the 7th convocation of the Milli Majlis (National Assembly) of the Republic of Azerbaijan took place. The President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, attended the meeting.

Sahiba Gafarova was elected as the Speaker of the Milli Majlis for the 7th convocation, a position she also held in the 6th convocation. MP Ali Ahmadov was elected as the First Deputy Speaker of the Milli Majlis, and MPs Ziyafat Asgarov, Musa Gasimly, and Rafael Huseynov were elected as deputy speakers.

Hafiz Hasanov, the chairman of the "Law and Progress" Public Union, discussed this in the program "A Complex Question." He reminded that the elections for the 6th convocation of parliament were also extraordinary. Back then, there was an opinion that the parliament's stance was not in harmony with the president's policies. However, the renewed parliament still includes the same deputies – nothing has changed. The same holds true for the 7th convocation of the parliament.

"Only 15 young people have received parliamentary mandates for the first time," the expert said, expressing hope that perhaps this new generation of deputies will bring forward new initiatives.

According to Hasanov, more than 60% of the new parliament consists of deputies from the 6th convocation, and the remaining "people's representatives" were elected in earlier convocations.

He also noted that the vast majority of laws passed by parliament are the result of the president's legislative initiatives. "I want to point out that members of parliament have not shown much legislative initiative," he stated.

Hasanov further highlighted that most deputies lack a tendency for legislative initiatives, experience working in parliamentary committees, with working groups, developing specific draft laws, or working on bills submitted through the legislative initiative of the president and other entities.

"I don’t expect any significant achievements from this parliament," Hasanov concluded.