Municipality Event 1

Drafted by: Sabina Taghiyeva
Round Table:
Title of the event: “Swiss federalism: direct democracy and culture of consensus”
Date: April 14, 2009
Location: Academy of Ministry of Justice of Azerbaijan, Baku city
Length: 2 hours

Total number of speakers:
• Rashad Majidov – Director, CABIR Alumni Council -Azerbaijan
• Sabina Taghiyeva – Municipality event manager, CABIR Alumni Council -Azerbaijan
• Nazim Qasimov – Head of Finance department, Yasamal municipality
• Ilham Abbasov – Rector, Academy of the Ministry of Justice
Topics elaborated:
The round table on the topic “Swiss federalism: direct democracy and culture of consensus” was organized last year. However, it was decided to repeat the event upon a request received by the Municipalities’ Associations, which kindly assisted to organize the event at the Academy of Ministry of Justice of Azerbaijan.
Mr. Majidov opened the event. He presented CABIR’s project and the topic of the event. The Mr. Abbasov also gave an opening speech. He welcomed the guests and commented on the importance of learning local management experiences from other countries, especially those having solid history of municipal representation as Switzerland.
The event began with an introductory film about Switzerland, followed by a documentary on Swiss economy. At the end the main points were summarized. It was highlighted that Switzerland is a bright example of how social consensus in the culturally, ethnically and religiously extremely diverse society can be achieved and how ‘investing in people” can be beneficial and turn a small country with limited natural resources into one with one of the highest living standard in Europe. Especially it was emphasized the fact that in Switzerland, which has a territorial extension twice smaller than Azerbaijan, the number of municipalities is very close to the number in Azerbaijan. (in Switzerland approx. 2600, in Azerbaijan 2769).
The similarity on the number of municipalities in Azerbaijan and Switzerland was stressed to show that a large number of municipalities,, although can be one of the reasons for the ineffectiveness of local self-management, in Azerbaijan, certainly is not the only one.
During the round table the system of government and local management of Switzerland were presented, and the structure of the Swiss government as well as the role of municipalities in delivering public services explained. The participants were also given information on the existing forms of organization within the municipalities, their functions, rights and responsibilities. Comparisons with Azerbaijan were drawn wherever it was appropriate.
“Direct democratic principle” and the ways of its realization were especially emphasised. The mechanisms of referendum, popular initiative and popular vote were explained in details. A movie on voting by “show of hand” was also shown to illustrate to the audience one example of how direct democracy principle can be realized.
Mr. Qasimov, and Mr. Abbasov, thanked CABIR Alumni Council for organizing an interesting event. Mr. Abbassov speaking about the international experience in the field of local management, stressed that one of the biggest weaknesses of the municipalities in Azerbaijan is their ineffective, almost “absent” work with the public. He believes the activities of the municipalities should be more open to the public and there should be in place some mechanisms to let communities participate in local decision making.
Mr. Abbasov also expressed his gratitude for the information provided by the Alumni Council. Especially, he outlined the importance of streamlining the number of municipalities. He mentioned that the central district of Baku –Sabail- has more than 200 thousands inhabitants and only 2 municipalities. Meanwhile, one of the Southern regions of Azerbaijan –Masalli- counts the same population and some 140 municipalities, which means that the collected local taxes and fees are shared between 140 municipalities. Of course, in this case, Sabail municipalities will be financially more equipped than any municipality of Masalli. From a democratic perspective, it is good that each village in Massalli has the right to establish its own municipality. But, on the other side, if the established institution is weak and cannot address the problems and needs of the community, what is the point of its existence?! He believed that in the 2009 Municipal elections the number of municipalities should be decreased by 5 times. This corresponds to the government ‘s strategy adopted at the moment”- he said.
The discussion continued about issues related to transparency and effectiveness of the municipalities’ functions. At the end of the event Mr. Abbasov, Rector of the Academy once more thanked the Alumni Council for the organizing the interesting event, saying that the Academy of the Ministry of Justice will be glad to host these kind of CABIR events in the future.
Most relevant questions/answers:
Question: The representative of Yasamal municipality was asked how public participation is ensured on its district which counts more than 300.000 people.
Answer: Mr. Qasimov commented that they appoint a community’s representative from each neighbourhood of the district and he/she represents the interests of the inhabitants of the neighbourhood. It is an unpaid, public position and the person is being selected by the municipality among the respected and well-known people of the neighbourhood. The Municipality periodically holds meeting with the communities’ representatives, to discuss and address issues pertinent to each neighbourhood.
One of the participants commented on the issue. She said that the system with community representatives is not effectively organized and it is not enough to ensure public participation. The problem is that this system is little known to the citizens. She was leaving in Yasamal, and not only she was unaware of her community’s representative, but she even didn’t know this mechanism existed.
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*Academy of Ministry of Justice AR is a training centre, where long and short term trainings are organized for government officials. As a part of the government strategy of strengthening local self-representation. The Academy also runs periodic training programs for municipality officials.
Total number of participants: 23
NGOs: 2
Academic Institutions: 12
Municipality: 5
Cabir Alumni: 4