The scandal due to the interview of deputy Vahid Ahmedov about the illegitimacy of members of parliament

Baku/26.04.23/Turan: The critical interview of MP Vahid Ahmedov with blogger Mehman Huseynov caused a scandal and a "showdown" at a meeting of the Milli Majlis on April 25. During the conversation, Vahid Ahmedov questioned the legitimacy of the majority of deputies, recalled that many of them are engaged in business. In addition, he spoke about the social injustice in the country and the inability of his colleagues to solve the problems of ordinary citizens. Speaker of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova instructed the Disciplinary Commission of the Milli Majlis to consider the behavior of the deputy at a special meeting.

As for the details of the interview, Vahid Ahmedov admitted that the life of ordinary people is not at the proper level. "We have not been able to solve the problem of unemployment in the regions. There are no finances in the country to support businesses and support people engaged in agriculture. Having taken out a loan, farmers are not able to repay it," the deputy noted.

According to him, the head of state instructed the executive authorities to allocate 300 manats per month for the unemployed. However, the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population reports that it has saved 56 million manats from these funds. How can you save on the unemployed?

According to the law, the deputies of the Milli Majlis cannot engage in entrepreneurial activity. However, many are doing this. Officials have to file a declaration of income, but do not do it. Milli Majlis has not been able to adopt a law on income declaration for more than ten years.

When asked which of the deputies was really elected by the people, Ahmedov named only three names, including himself.

Answering a question about the opposition, the MP said that there are several parties in Azerbaijan that can get votes in the elections. "One of them is the "Yeni Azerbaijan" Party, the second is the Popular Front Party, the third is Musavat, and possibly the REAL party. The parties of the Great Liberation and the United People's Front represented in parliament would be able to gain "part of the votes".

All these statements became the object of sharp criticism from other deputies and insults to Vahid Ahmedov at a meeting on Tuesday.

"Ahmedov questions the democratic elections in Azerbaijan. If he has facts, let him state them, and if not, let him keep silent. This is an insult to the deputies," Kamran Bayramov said. "This man deserves a reprimand. I ask you to leave the consideration of this issue to the Disciplinary Commission of the Milli Majlis", Elshan Musayev. Ziyafet Askerov questioned that Vahid Ahmedov is a statesman.

"A statesman should be with the state, not with blogger Mehman Huseynov, with the Popular Front and with Musavat," he said.

Siyavush Novruzov said that the deputy of the Milli Majlis should not give interviews to those who "work against Azerbaijan and spread slander about the country."

"We have more than thirty journalists, TV channels, including Internet channels registered in parliament. If you want to talk, tell them. Why give an interview to a conman who has no education, no nationality, no position? Who is he?" said Novruzov.

Deputy Speaker of the Milli Majlis Fazail Ibrahimli was outraged by Vahid Akhmedov's statement that many deputies were not elected. "It turns out that all but three people here are fake. Why are you hurting my dignity? If you do not accept it, if your conscience does not tolerate it, leave your mandate and leave," he said.

Deputy Fazail Agamaly proposed to bring the issue of Vahid Ahmedov's behavior to a meeting of the Disciplinary Commission.

MP Hikmet Babaoglu accused Vahid Ahmedov himself of involvement in illegal business. He justified this by the fact that at one time Ahmedov held the post of first deputy prime minister of the country.

Razi Nurullayev was also outraged that the majority of deputies were not elected. At the same time, he acted as a defender of Speaker Sahiba Gafarova, who defends the interests of Azerbaijan on international platforms. "It is the biggest injustice and insult not to see the work of Sahib Gafarova, to ignore what she does for the country."

After hearing all the accusations, Vahid Ahmedov said that in his interview he was defending the interests of the state. "Fazail Agamali urged to consider the issue in the Disciplinary Commission. I don't mind, I'm ready to answer all the questions," he said.

Commenting on the scandal aroud Vahid Ahmedov to the Turan news agency, the author of the interview, journalist Mehman Huseynov, said: "Don't even the deputies want to listen to the truth. Is it really so wrong to say the obvious things? Are they really so afraid of the truth?" ---03---