Former MPs Signaling to President

On 12 November in Baku a meeting of the Permanent Assembly of Deputies of the Parliament of Azerbaijan in 1990-1995 was held. Recall that this kind of forum was formed before the 20th anniversary of Independence Day.

The Assembly represents all regions of the country and includes many prominent state and public figures, leaders of large enterprises, businessmen, academics and journalists. During the meetings, which have become traditional, the participants discuss the current problems of AR and find it necessary to express their vision of the most important and critical, to attract the attention of the public, government circles. This time the subject of the former parliamentarians came down to the socio-economic situation in the country, told Turan the Elder Assembly representative of the Gubatli district, Shahsuvar Yahyaev.

"According to the majority of the speakers, in almost all regions, the situation of large groups of the population continues to decline. Among the members of parliament there are predecessors of the current lot of Milli Majlis, including informed activists carrying out their own monitoring of the socio-economic situation in the country. They have a number of facts to refute the official statistics on the improvement of employment and quality of life. Due to rising unemployment increased outflow of young people outside the country, worsening the financial situation of most families. According to our analysts, average life expectancy in Azerbaijan today is lower than at the start of democratic reforms ", said Yahyaev.

The meeting stated that a number of exceptional circumstances are a growing concern of the former deputies: first - an unprecedented stratification of the population. The new class of rich includes very rich and super rich, fused with the ruling class. Against this background is the irrepressible social degradation of the masses.

The second one is the actual deprivation of citizens of their rightful share of the profits coming from the sale of oil and gas projects.

The third one is the transfer of 1 million 200 thousand pensioners into the category of disadvantaged sections of society. Pensions in Azerbaijan do not reflect either the extent or the nature or characteristics of employment of citizens.

According to data announced at the meeting, the pensions of managers of large enterprises, skilled professionals, scientists and artists are substantially higher than the remuneration of people providing unskilled labor. The continuing rise in prices for key products makes the lives of millions of people desperate. In this context, the meeting considered that the situation in which the MPs that passed the Act of Independence are now, mirrors the policy of the authorities on the most disadvantaged parts of the population.

Of the 349 members of the Parliament convened in 1990-1995, about a half are alive now. Financial position of most of them is extremely difficult. Despite repeated statements by the public to ensure that the authors of the Declaration of Independence receive decent pensions and benefits, the issue remains unresolved. The Assembly of former parliamentarians decided to send the appropriate message to the head of state, in order to address this fact of social injustice. -0 -