President warns ministers over infighting; says no opposition in Azerbaijan

Azarbaycan, Baku
13 Dec 04

The Azeri president has urged the government to stop infighting and
bad-mouthing. In a speech at an expanded government session on 7
December, Ilham Aliyev said that the ministers should do their job
“with a clear conscience, properly and professionally” and not engage
in politics as this will pay no “dividends”. He also said that there
is no opposition in the country as such. “The opposition has only
itself to blame,” he told the meeting. The following is an excerpt
from the report by the Azerbaijani newspaper Azarbaycan on 13 December
headlined “The conclusive speech by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev
at an expanded session of the Cabinet of Ministers on 7 December 2004
summing the results of 2004”; subheadings have been inserted
editorially:

Well, we should sum up our meeting. I believe that a very important
discussion was held as we examined the work done this year. We have
witnessed once more that economic success is obvious.

[Passage omitted: Aliyev says he is satisfied with the work of the
government and repeats similar ideas from his opening speech]

No bad-mouthing

As I said, I positively assess the activities of the government and I
highly value its work. But in some cases, the government interferes in
the affairs outside its remit. Everyone should do his job and be
responsible for his sphere of competence. It is only natural for
people to have proposals or make claims. There is every opportunity
to make claims or proposals and the Cabinet of Ministers, the prime
minister, the presidential executive office and the president are
there for this purpose. But it is wrong to make [claims] in public and
in a very bad-mannered fashion at that. I do not appreciate this and I
do not like this. This contradicts our working principles. Each member
of the government, minister and official should do his job with a
clear conscience, properly and professionally. And that’s it.

A member of the government is an official, not a politician. If
somebody wants to be a politician, it is his own business. But the
task of an official is to do his job. That is to say, I do not reckon
that offices or forums other than that are [appropriate] places for
assessing each other’s activities. No, it is not. It could be
appropriate for a politician, a deputy or a public figure. But there
are limits when it comes to officials.

I want to reiterate that all issues can be resolved at meetings of the
Cabinet of Ministers, through written or verbal reports containing
claims or proposals to the president and the prime minister. I am in
favour of such principles and anything else is unacceptable.

You know, these cases happen rarely. But they are usually seen in
society as messages with the wrong meaning. We, the Azerbaijani
authorities, are carrying out our activities as one team both before
and after the elections. I have been observing these principles since
my appointment as prime minister and election as president. I have
stated these principles clearly and been faithful to them. I am
keeping all my promises. Along with other factors, our strength is in
our unity. If there are any contradictions within our ranks, I will do
my best to eliminate them.

Therefore, I am not satisfied with the fact that such cases are taking
place. It is only natural that they cause a certain reaction. Some
people, openly or secretly, and sometimes with the involvement of the
mass media, are fighting against each other. If you want to fight, you
can do so through very good legal channels which involve the departure
from your post and involvement in politics. There will be no big
tragedy here. Anyone who wants this is free to do so. Everyone who
wants to engage in politics is free to do so and we will see how good
he is at politics. I do not want to protest against those who want to
become public figures.

Opposition

Now there is a gap in this field in Azerbaijan. Since the presidential
elections, especially since the opposition has dealt a blow to itself,
it has been unable to recover. In fact, one cannot say that there is
any opposition in Azerbaijan now. The opposition has only itself to
blame. Everyone knows that the authorities had no plans to take steps
or measures against the opposition. In general, we do not think about
it at all. Because it’s existence in the Azerbaijani social and
political life is hardly visible. That’s to say, there is a gap here.

Now the opposition leaders confine themselves to foreign visits,
meetings with minor officials of international organizations and
wearing bow ties at rallies abroad. Let them come and hold a rally
here. If they have power, let them hold at least one rally here and
make speeches wearing bow ties or something else. No, they cannot. And
this is the reality. The Azerbaijani people will never allow any
actions to be held on squares against Azerbaijan and its national
interests. This is impossible. The Azerbaijani people are fed up with
such opposition and the presidential elections clearly proved
that. Over a year has elapsed since the presidential elections: they
have been absent over that period of time and there is not room for
them [in future]. Because this is the people’s order and demand.

Infighting will pay no dividends

Azerbaijan is developing in quite a different direction. Our
activities assume creativity and build-up. We are strengthening our
country and its international image and increasing the economic
potential. Our strict positions on international issues are
praiseworthy. Azerbaijan’s strict position on the Armenian-Azerbaijani
Nagornyy Karabakh conflict is being understood. Even if it is not
understood, we will not retreat from our position because it is in the
interests of the Azerbaijani people.

I would like to note that the absence of the opposition, does not mean
that somebody can fight against somebody else within our ranks. This
is impossible and will never be possible. My advice is that one should
not resort to such actions. That will pay no political dividends. In
general, a minister must not think about engaging in political
activities. On the contrary, he should think about how to justify the
president’s trust. We all should justify his trust in our activities,
our work and our service to the people and the motherland. I – to the
Azerbaijani people as the Azerbaijani people believed in me and
elected me. You – to the president who believes in you and the
people. That is it and there is no other way.

I don’t want to go into any details now. I believe that what I said is
enough. I hope that, as always, there will be a working partnership
among members of the government which will allow us to carry out all
our economic plans. Thank you.

Azarbaycan newspaper note: Prime Minister Artur Rasizada, the head of
the presidential administration, Ramiz Mehdiyev and other officials
attended the session.