NGO Coalition initiates reform of municipalities

 The municipalities in Azerbaijan   could not become an institution of local democracy and the power, therefore the local government needs serious reform. This was the keynote at the roundtable on Wednesday, on the recommendations to Azerbaijan, adopted on October 16-18, at the session of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe (CLRAE).

The meeting was organized by the Alliance of NGOs for development of municipalities.

According to the coordinator of the Alliance, Azer Mehdiyev, the head of the Public Association for Assistance to Economic Initiatives, the documents were adopted on the basis of the monitoring mission of CLRAE held in April this year.

He said that the report of the mission stated that the Azerbaijani authorities did not fulfill previous recommendations.

The expert of the Alliance Rovshan Agayev noted that the term "local self-government" in the Azerbaijani legislation does not comply with the European Charter on Local Self-Government. In particular, municipalities do not have the authority of the local government.

CLRAE believes there is a parallelism in local government in Azerbaijan: it is carried out by local authorities and municipalities, whose powers are limited. In reality, the municipalities are subordinate to the executive. Financial base of municipalities is also weak.  But the biggest criticism is the lack of special status of Baku, as the capital city and the municipality of city with an elected mayor.

Agayev told about the recommendations of the CLRAE. In particular, there is a call to recognize municipal governments, implementing decentralization of state power. It is proposed to broaden the status and powers of municipalities, the creation of the municipality of Baku with an elected mayor.

Representatives of opposition political parties, who participated in discussions believe that without the change of the regime in Azerbaijan, one should not expect a real local democracy. "The current municipal system fits into the essence of the feudal regime in Azerbaijan. The country is divided into regions and branches between officials, oligarchs, and there can be no question of decentralization and municipal development," said the deputy chairman of PPFA, Nureddin Mammadli.

Natig Jafarli, a member of the civil movement REAL,  noted that the ruling elite is afraid to create  a municipality of Baku and the election of the mayor. On the one hand, the elected mayor of the city  with population  three or 3.5 million is considered as an alternative to the president. On the other hand,  the conflicts among the power can undermine foundations of the regime.

Lyudmila Khalilova, member of the m municipality of the village of  Garachukhur,  said that local government can develop  successfully  even under the current status, but the financial  base should be enlarged.  According to her, the municipality  of Garachukhur even with the current financial base is implementing projects to repair roads, landscaping, construction of houses and other ceremonies.

Following the discussions,  it was decided to  develop general recommendations for improving the municipal system and submit them  to the authorities.—06C-