A reaction on Facebook from a friend of mine, prompted me to write another post on this video scandal. And its a good point- why none of our so called democratically elected parliament members said anything about Guler Ahmadova's video? Why none of them came forward to say for instance that this is not true about the rest of them, that they haven't paid for their seats, or that they have been democratically elected, or that this is a terrible thing to happen and a disgrace to their reputation as the country's executive body...
Here is probably why:
- Milli Majlis [MM] has been stripped of its many powers a very long time ago and is afraid to put in practice any of the powers it still posses;
- MM is merely a stamping machine approving everything sent in from "above";
- MM is not democratically elected body;
- MM members are afraid for their seats and mandates;
Yes, I didn't dream of it but its what Ms. Ahmadova said in an article published here [AZ]:
I haven't gone anywhere, I am in Baku, at my home. In order to help the investigation process I have voluntarily gave up my mandate. I continue to live as an ordinary citizen in the country" said Ahmadova in an interview with APA.
There were rumors that Ms. Ahmadova fled the country following the video scandal, however, she dismissed these rumors. She is angry though. She is demanding Elshad Abdullayev (the man in the video bargaining for the parliamentary seat) to join the investigation.
Now its Elshad Abdullayev's turn. Let him now stop this mailing and video game, come to the investigation, and respond to all the questions on legal basis.
It is not surprising she is angry. After all she is no longer untouchable, and she lost her major source of income. I am just wondering, where does she spend this money, she must be incredibly rich? I doubt she is into philanthropy and is saving money for a greater cause, unless of course, that greater cause is something to do with her and her family?! Who knows... Thats a mystery to be resolved, or not...
I shared this video in my earlier post on the issue. However the original video was in Azerbaijani. This time you can watch the video with English subtitles. Watch and share! We are yet to see what will happen to Ms. Ahmadova... In the meantime, at least we have confirmed that corruption and bribery in Azerbaijan has no limits. That is why Azerbaijani Milli Majlis (the National Parliament) will never exercise its executive power. That is why non of our "democratically elected" MPs will ever stand by their people, vote on laws that would protect the people. The only body they will stand by will be their President- the one and only, Aliyev All Mighty! And that will always be their Achilles Hill- one mistake, one wrong word, one statement (against the President and his cronies of course) and your mandate is gone, and you are back among those very people you disrespect and fool by fake elections, false promises and look at them from above as if you are untouchable forever...
This image I am sharing was circulated on Facebook and so I could not resist the temptation to share it here with you. The rough translation of the photo:
"There are so many out there wanting to be parliament members..." (c)- now guess who the author of these words is. Probably wont be that difficult.
Now, back to the scandal- Ms. Ahmadova said the video was a fluke and that it was montage- at this point I want to say Montage my a**! I think our government really considers 100% of its population as dumb!
As if I cannot tell the difference between whats real and whats not! As if I am (and so are the rest of the millions of fellow Azerbaijanis) imbecile?! We all knew about corruption! We all knew about fraudulent elections! We know that our country is not a democracy and to claim it otherwise is simply dishonest (but hey, what I talking about here- honesty, that is something not in lexicon of our officials)! People are not idiots! The fact that nobody says anything is another story- people are afraid to say or do anything because they are afraid of getting arrested, being beaten up, disappear, lose their jobs, put their families and relatives in danger (and even murdered I am afraid to say)! Everybody knows about millions of stocked away revenues! But to have the arrogance and come out to say that this was a montage is simply UNACCEPTABLE! For once stop treating your people as imbeciles- because we are not!
Yes, Azerbaijani government is systematically raising imbeciles- like those two so- called sportsmen who beat up Emin and Adnan. Or like those civilian dressed "guards" who carry (or shall I say just shovel) people into police cars during protests. Or those "officers" who knock women down and don't look back but then when it suits them they talk about morality and how much respect Azerbaijani woman has in our society!
Ms. Ahmadova what you are saying is so desperate of a statement for someone who has gotten herself so deep in sh** that its funny. You are making a joke of yourself. Just accept it and resign with some dignity (if there is any) left in you...
Well, its not surprising that an MP was caught discussing bribes nor the fact that MP was a female. Corruption and bribing has become such a normal occurrence by this time in Azerbaijan that hardly scandals of this sort really change anything. Perhaps, a bit of change- at least for savvy social media users the recent case of an Azerbaijani female MP discussing a specific amount of "500" (the rest of "0"s are unbeknownst) created lots of room for debate. As of yesterday for instance, a trending #500olsaydi [AZ] ("if there was 500") on Twitter became a popular way to express what would someone do if they had that "500" or various jokes about Ms. Ahmadova. In fact, some even decided to start polls- asking what would happen to infamous MP (or shall I actually say a YouTube star?)- will she be stripped of her mandate? Will she resign? Will she be treated as a hero?" and questions alike.
This video [AZ] at the end of this post, is the proof of Ms. Ahmadova discussing that bribe of "500". Since its in Azerbaijani, I thought I share a short excrept from the conversation that is taking place between the three of our heroes (by the way, so as not to confuse anyone, the elections at stake here are the 2010 parliamentary elections).
Gular Ahmadova: "I am well experienced in "petty fights"! You can't joke in politics! You have seen Ali Insanov, Ferhad Aliyev [currently arrested former ministers]! I am a person who eliminated [scratched off] the list of candidates [during the parliamentary elections in 2010] that went to the President! I take the money myself, who is Mr. Ramiz [Mehdiyev]? This is my price! I am the one who is asking for the bribe!"
I take the "500" is probably 500.000. The question is of what? Manats? USDollars? Most probably Manats, but hey who cares. We'll see what is going to really happen to Ms. Ahmadova. I doubt anything serious. And even if she is stripped of her mandate or taken down (very very very best case scenario), the rest of the 123 MPs still stand and who knows when their dirty deeds will surface...
(Updated)
The man in the video is Elshad Abdullayev, rector of a private university in Azerbaijan. Currently Abdullayev lives in France in exile. The bribe at stake is how much he must pay to become a member of the parliament. The conversation or bargaining would be a better fit for what is happening in the video heats up when Abdullayev says he was told it would 500 and not one million, while Ms. Ahmadova begins to boasts of her "successful career" as a rigger (see the short excerpt above). For more details, you can read this piece by AzeriReport.
