BREAKING STEREOTYPES

The fourth regular municipal election was held in Azerbaijan by the end of last year. No final results of the vote have been summed up yet (according to the law, the deadline is 20 days after the polls but they can already be regarded as valid. As a result of the ballot, 15,035 members have been elected to 1,607 municipalities for the next five years.

As was expected, the majority of ardent oppositionists withdrew from the race and dismissed it at once as fraudulent. However, Central Electoral Commission (CEC) chairman Mazahir Panahov regards criticism as a natural thing. "Rivalry between the authorities and the opposition can be seen everywhere. Here, like in other 'young' democracies, this rivalry may appear sharper and the cause of this is that our democratic election process is comparatively young. On the other hand, if we compare the situation in Azerbaijan in the 1990s and today, they are different as day and night," the CEC head said.

Meanwhile the refusal of the so-called radical opposition forces to take part in the election had no effect on the voter turnout or the overall atmosphere of the election process: the polls were held in quite a calm situation. According to early returns, some 40 per cent of the voters came to the polls.  

Overall, of all the registered candidates, about 14,000 were running on party tickets. The rest of them - more than 23,000 people - were independents nominated by themselves or through initiative groups. Representatives of the ruling party accounted for about 40 per cent of the total number of candidates.

According to the Election Code, it is up to the candidate to decide whether or not to specify their party affiliation. Many of the independent candidates disclosed their party affiliation: they included representatives of 30 parties. Their number is 19,000.    

Much attention was given to transparency of the election process. For this purpose, web cameras were installed at 1,000 polling stations (20 per cent of all stations) and 50,000 observers were monitoring the voting process. 

Contrary to sceptics' predictions, competition for seats on municipal councils was rather high. It is true that the institution of municipality is rather young in Azerbaijan and the role they play in society has not reached the level of European countries where struggle for membership of a municipal council is often bitterer than at higher-level elections. Surprising as it is, more than 37,000 candidates were vying for the said 15,000-plus seats on municipal councils. Put differently, the competition was roughly 2.5 candidates per seat and this is a very high indicator for Azerbaijan.

It is believed that, due to the underdeveloped status of the institution of municipality in Azerbaijan, municipal elections are viewed by many of their participants as the first step to assert themselves in politics. One may disagree with this approach, though. On its path towards European integration, Azerbaijan is borrowing best practices from the Old World where municipalities enjoy very broad powers. For instance, the main method of municipal activity in Germany includes direct regulation and control. Their regulatory activities include the issuance of licences to work in sales, to run various consumer services, cinemas, theatres and the like, permits to engage in crafts; establishing trade regulations, property development and allocation of plots of land for construction; establishing rules of conduct in public places; issuing permits for or imposing bans on marches, rallies and demonstrations. They also include supervision in keeping public order, fire safety, sanitation and others.

Over time, the municipalities in Azerbaijan will play and increasingly active role in settling the population's social and economic problems at the local level. According to Hazi Akbarov, the executive secretary of the National Association of Urban Municipalities of Azerbaijan and coordinator of national associations, over the past few years, many municipalities have acquired positive experience in dealing with local problems, achieved transparency in their activity, established business contacts with executive bodies and non-governmental organizations (NGO) and increased their role in society. The national associations have rendered methodological and other necessary assistance to municipalities in this work and coordinated their activity.

As part of the "One Municipality - At Least One Project" initiative suggested by the national associations and supported at previous forums, the municipalities have carried out about 26,000 projects worth a total of more than 79.8m mantas over the past five years, taking relevant efforts for the improvement of towns, settlements and villages, the maintenance of social facilities, local roads and simple sports facilities, providing water for drinking and irrigation, addressing local problems and other things. The municipalities have gained positive experience in settling problems such as providing drinking water for the population of Quba, Qabala, Ismayilli and Goygol, repairing rural roads in Agcabadi, Balakan, Goranboy and Calilabad, taking care of the buildings of educational institutions in Xacmaz, providing water for irrigation in Barda, Kurdamir and Tartar, waste collection and transportation in Binaqadi and Sabuncu Districts of Baku. The "Improved Neighbourhood and Improved Village" initiative supported at the second national forum gave an impetus to municipalities' efforts to provide their populated localities with necessary amenities. The work done was appreciated by the town and district councils chaired by the heads of the municipalities; 66 neighbourhoods and 48 villages were declared improved in 2009. The councils are also planning to identify neighbourhoods and villages to be declared improved this year.

A large part of the work done by the municipalities is based on social mandates received from citizens living in those areas. An important role in examination of citizens' requests is played by Week of New Democracy initiated by national associations and supported at the Second National Forum of the Heads of City and Town Councils. During these weeks that have become traditional now, the municipal councils meet their residents to report on their performance, organize open days and telephone hotlines and install municipal mailboxes in the areas. These measures serve to strengthen ties between municipalities and citizens. For the same purpose, 35 municipalities have made their websites.

Based on international experience, the Second National Forum of the Heads of City and Town Councils recommended that unification issues be considered at the local level as a way of improving the economic and financial capacity of municipalities with small areas and small populations. In 2009, as a result of the initiative and activity of citizens, 1,654 bodies of local government were united to form 614 new municipalities with a stronger economic and financial potential. Meanwhile, last year the unification of 204 municipalities resulted in the formation of 94 new municipalities.

To adopt foreign experience more effectively, 19 municipalities of Azerbaijan established twin-city relations with municipalities in Turkey, China, Latvia, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan. The activity in the sphere of creating and strengthening links between national associations and international organizations has increased during the time that has elapsed since the last forum. This allowed for the establishment of a business relationship with the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe and other authoritative international organizations.

By the way, based on the election results, the number of young people and women in local governments is expected to rise, compared with previous years. Gulnara Qanbarova, the main contender for a place in the Lankaran city council, noted that over the past five years, the council has done a great job on the liveability of the city, its landscaping, development of education and culture. "As a member of the city council, I continue to be concerned with the issues associated with urban infrastructure such as street lighting, the sewerage system, etc. I would also like to see the situation with the placement of street nameplates improved. I hope that these issues can be solved with the help of appropriate services of the city, provided I am elected to the city council for a second term," Qanbarova said in an interview with R+.

In developed countries, the city councils have long played a leading role in solving social problems of the population, whether urban or rural. The adoption of this experience in Azerbaijan is merely a matter of time.