Rabiyyat Aslanova

These elections will be the fourth since independence of the country, and the election campaign will be launched officially these days.

The statement came from chairperson of the Committee on Human Rights of the Milli Majlis, professor Rabiyyat Aslanova. According to her, these elections evidence measures for further improvement of the national legislation of Azerbaijan.

'In general, elections represent an important event in the life of every people and every nation. These elections feature the attitude of every citizen of Azerbaijan for the morrow of our state, the development of statehood and democratization of society. As I have noted before, the current elections will be the fourth, and great strides from quantity to quality have been made through these years. Today we are witnessing this. Unlike previous years, today voters demand from the elected parliamentarians to fulfill the expected obligations more seriously', she said.

According to Aslanova, all this shows that the electoral process became very serious and more complex.

'Elections must be accompanied with complications. I think that they cannot be easy, as voters are required to approach the process of parliamentary elections seriously, and the candidates must understand that the electorate is not going to give them their vote for nothing,  they also put their demands.

Consequently, candidates for elections must be fully aware of whether they are worthy to be elected and to justify the trust. This is a big responsibility, and I have always said that if the state is responsible for something, every citizen also has a responsibility”, said the chairman of the parliamentary committee.

Aslanova expressed her attitude to the representation of women and youth in the parliament.

'The quota is a form of restriction. For example, the number of women deputies should not exceed 30 percent of the total number of parliamentarians. However, in Azerbaijan there are so many talented women, and qualified professionals who are faithful to the country and the state.

Perhaps, they could take half of the seats in the parliament. The question is what a quota is needed for, which may limit the representation of women in the Parliament? I'm referring this situation to young people, because in this case there is no need to define quotas. After all, the deputies will be those who meet the criteria I listed above, for whom voters would vote', said the parliamentarian.

The deputy believes that women and young people are not sufficiently represented in the parliament today.

'The most important is that a person who occupies a position of a deputy was talented, good and a real parliamentary. It does not matter whether it is a man or a woman, a young or an elderly person. Here we should not apply age, gender or other restrictions. At the same time, it would be good if women constitute 50% of the overall number of deputies in Milli Majlis.

However, such a situation is a peculiar feature of mostly Scandinavian states where women make up 405 of deputies in the parliaments. We can also have something of the kind, therefore, I would recommend the Azerbaijani voter to give away the division into East and West and to join the election process in terms of a more civil and universal approach. I want the voters to believe in women candidates, in youth and make the right choice today.

I think this is how it will be. At the same time, I am fully confident that the elections will be difficult but fair. Today we invite all international organizations to Azerbaijan. Let them come and see the fair, transparent and free elections in the country', said Aslanova.

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