Situations of State Agencies Unsatisfactory

The situation  with ??transparency of state agencies of Azerbaijan is still behind the standards of the law "On Freedom Of Information", and the  situation with the initiative "Open Government" is even worse.

The next semi-annual monitoring of 64 assembly of state agencies conducted by Multimedia Center, showed that the degree of transparency of official internet resources was 33.5%. The lead of the Multimedia Center, Osman Gunduz, assessed  it as a step forward compared to last year 2011, when it was within 27%.

A more positive role in improving the situation, played a presidential decree on May 23rd of the acceleration of the formation by  the state assemblies  their electronic resources within the project "e-government."  However, the deterioration of the law "On Freedom Of Information"  is observed, as a result of the amendment, reducing the openness of government agencies.

According to  lawyer  Alesker Mammadli, the leaders  on transparency are the  assemblies,  having tax and other obligations of citizens, such as the Ministry of Taxes,  State Fund to  Social Protection, Ministry of Communications, and the last  in the rating table,  are assemblies,  accountable to citizens, such as the Cabinet of Ministers.

The situation with providing  electronic services to citizens, provided  in the project "Electronic Government" is even worse. Of  261 services,  actually work 118  on 39 state sites. The law "On Freedom of Information" was  adopted in 2005, and was one of the best in the compilation of legislative acts of Azerbaijan. With its adoption, the international and local experts hoped to achieve openness in all branches of government and reduce corruption. However, in practice, this law is sabotaged by the same authorities, and especially the executive power.

This is evidenced by the  rating of executive authorities of regions and cities that are part of the Presidential institution. Information transparency of local authorities amounted to an average of 7%, and in many  regions it is  at 0 level.

According to the director of Turan news agency, Mehman Aliyev, it is practically a sabotage of the law with the approval of the Presidential Administration: "33% transparency means the evaluation "2". Can  the law be  fulfilled by 33%, slander, insult and justify this by saying that last year  these violations totaled 27%. And then ask the injured  to be patient, not to sue and  do not complain, and wait when the situation improves," he said.

Osman Gunduz said that the monitoring results and recommendations will be transferred to state assemblies in order to ensure the transparency of electronic resources.

The event  was attended by approximately 15 representatives from 64 central departments. -0-