Azeri speaker bans MPs from criticizing foreign countries

Bilik Dunyasi news agency
13 Oct 04

Baku, 13 October: Commenting on the problem of settling the Nagornyy
Karabakh conflict at a session of the Milli Maclis, the speaker of
the Azerbaijani parliament, Murtuz Alasgarov, banned the deputies
from criticizing foreign countries.

He said that at their meetings with him, foreign ambassadors to
Azerbaijan express their dissatisfaction with the remarks about their
countries made in parliament.

He pointed out that some members of the Milli Maclis criticize Russia,
the USA and other countries.

“I infer that some of you sympathize with Russia, some with the USA
and others sympathize either with France or with no country at all. Who
asked for your opinion about this or that country?” the speaker asked.

Alasgarov also told the deputies to express their judgments only
through the press.

“You can express your opinion in the press about individual people,
or for example, about the elections in the USA. We have no right to
hold such discussions in parliament,” Murtuz Alasgarov said.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress