PLAN of the Azerbaijan Democracy and Welfare (ADW) Movement to fight against corruption

The fall of prices of oil, which is the main export product of Azerbaijan, in the world market, the continuation of the restrictive effects of the coronavirus pandemic, and poor and unaccountable public administration have led to a decline in the national economy. Under the current circumstances, the rapid growth of unemployment and poverty, the expansion of corruption, the determination of the final destination of most of the funds allocated from the budget by the central executive authorities, the restriction of access to information on public spending, holding tenders closed and non-competitive or placing orders directly with companies belonging to the political elite without a tender, and the combination of all this with corruption has brought the country to the brink of disaster. Therefore, the ADW Movement proposes to the government to implement the following measures to fight against corruption as urgent steps to save Azerbaijan from the disaster that awaits it.

1)    At the legal level:

• From the President to the Heads of the Executive Powers, middle and high-ranking government officials, prosecutors, law enforcement officers, and judicial officials should publish Declarations of Income and Property.
• The Competition Code should be adopted.
• The Budget Code should be adopted.
• The Law on Conflict of Interests should be adopted.
• The Law on Protection of Informants should be adopted.
• The Law on State Financial Control should be adopted.
• The Law on Disclosure of Property Ownership should be adopted.
• The Law on Restrictions on Recruitment, Promotion, and Dismissal should be adopted.
• Prohibitions on the disclosure of information on property ownership and payments of companies should be removed from the Law on Trade Secrets.
• Existing laws should be subject to anti-corruption expertise.

2)    At the institutional level:

• The functioning of independent courts should be ensured to make legal decisions and to ensure the rule of law.
• Court of Jurors should be established.
• The existing commission to define the anti-corruption policy should be reorganized with the participation of public representatives.
• An independent anti-monopoly institute should be established to support competition.
• The independence of the financial monitoring service should be ensured to prevent money laundering.
• The powers of the Chamber of Accounts should be increased as an independent audit institution that monitors the final use of state budget expenditures.
• A special investigation commission should be established with the participation of law enforcement agencies to investigate the cases of corruption and the facts of large-scale money laundering mentioned in international media investigations.

3)    At the accountability/transparency and public participation level:

• The classification of budget expenditures should be carried out by results-based programs.
• Closed hearings of the Committee on Defense, Security, and Combating Corruption on the defense budget should be organized in the Milli Majlis.
• An administrative, economic, and functional classification of other expenditures of the state budget of the Republic of Azerbaijan for 2021 should be prepared, except for expenditures on defense and national security, which are confidential, and, they should be submitted to the Milli Majlis for discussion.
• An audit of expenditures on defense and national security should be conducted by the Chamber of Accounts, and an opinion should be prepared.
• Open and competitive tenders should be held on state orders related to increasing the transparency and accountability of expenditures on defense and national security, the supply of defense forces.
• Access to information on property ownership should be increased.
• Representation of public representatives should be ensured in the Supervisory Board of the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan.
• Restrictions on the activities of civil society institutions (NGOs, free press) should be removed.
• Independent civil society institutions should be involved in the adoption, implementation, and monitoring of the National Action Plan for the Promotion of Open Government Partnership (OGP).
• Separate budget hearings of the Milli Majlis and the government should be organized with the participation of civil society institutions.

4)    At the international cooperation level:

• The anti-corruption recommendations of GRECO and OECD should be implemented in a timely and complete manner.
• Cooperation with FAFT and MONEYVAL should be expanded.
• Membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO) should be accelerated.
• Azerbaijan's active membership in the Open Government Partnership (OGP) initiative should be restored.
• Membership in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) should be re-applied.

Sincerely,

Gubad Ibadoghlu,
Chairman of the Azerbaijan Democracy and Welfare (ADW) Movement
July 14, 2020