Afət Ziyadqızı
Comments by MP Sayyad Aran at a meeting of the Milli Majlis (National Assembly) Human Rights Committee, in which he said he had been unable to reach Minister of Science and Education Emin Amrullayev by phone and strongly criticized ministers’ procedures for receiving citizens, have sparked widespread public debate in Azerbaijan.
AĞ Party Chairman Tural Abbasli backed the MP’s statement in an extensive comment to "Operative Information Center-OMM".
The party leader said that officials’ avoidance of not only ordinary citizens but also MPs, along with their indifference to appeals, had become a troubling tradition in the country.
“They lose their vigilance and forget that they are public servants.”
Tural Abbasli said the MP’s criticism was not accidental and that the issue had been raised repeatedly:
“You know, this is not the first such statement. MPs and other people periodically speak about being unable to meet with the heads of relevant institutions. There is a tradition in Azerbaijan: after being appointed to a certain position, a minister begins acting like a feudal lord, khan or bey. They forget that they are actually public servants. Driven by their personal status and ego, they do not answer calls or receive not only ordinary citizens and people in their field, but even MPs. They even express absurd views such as, ‘Your job is to adopt laws; do not interfere in executive work.’”
The AĞ Party chairman noted that although MPs’ role was not to resolve complaints directly, they were the officials who had the most contact with constituents and were the most accessible to citizens. Therefore, they should have unimpeded access to ministries:
“This should not depend on arbitrary decisions: ‘Emin Amrullayev likes this MP, so I will answer the phone; he does not like the other one, so I will block him.’ Such an approach is unacceptable. An MP is part of an elected, not an appointed, body. An elected body has always been superior to an appointed body. So, in what respect is a minister superior to an MP that he should not answer the MP’s phone call?!”
Tural Abbasli added that the party received countless complaints concerning the ministries that should have the most contact with the public, including the Ministries of Science and Education, Health, and Labour and Social Protection of the Population. He said they encountered the same indifference even when acting as intermediaries:
“When we use our status as a political party to convey a citizen’s problem to the relevant institution, instead of thanking us, the ministry tells us, ‘We did it because of you.’ In fact, we do not even know that citizen personally. The ministry should be pleased that we have pointed out a gap in its area so that it can address it.”
The party leader also addressed the format of public meetings in the regions, saying that MP Sayyad Aran’s criticism was justified:
“The main task of the vast majority of state institutions is to avoid dealing with citizens’ appeals. Even on days designated for personal meetings with ministers, they bring assistants, advisers and ‘paper carriers’ before ordinary people.
When they travel to the regions, they coordinate in advance with local executive authorities and gather ‘harmless’ and peaceful complainants so that there is no time left for those with genuine problems. This is a disrespectful process that is massively increasing the number of dissatisfied people in the country.”
Tural Abbasli stressed the need for a systematic mechanism to prevent chaos and public discontent:
1. An effective complaints mechanism: Ministries should establish appeal and online/written complaint systems in a way that citizens are not forced to contact the minister directly and issues can be resolved at lower levels.
2. A differentiated approach: Special, more serious procedures should be applied to appeals submitted by MPs, political parties and NGOs.
The AĞ Party chairman concluded that institutions should stop campaigning against individuals and organizations that highlight shortcomings instead of addressing the problems themselves.
Azerbaijan’s public appeal system provides formal channels for citizens to submit complaints to state bodies, while MPs and civil society organizations often act as intermediaries in raising public concerns. Effective response mechanisms are intended to ensure that issues are handled at the appropriate administrative level without requiring direct access to senior officials.
