Just before New Year, the ruling party of Azerbaijan- YAP- needed one last event to praise the king and praise they did. It was a grand New Year present from Santa YAP. On December 24th, YAP organized an event "Azerbaijan 2013: new targets, new victories". Ruling party members were there, parliament members were there, but just to add a bit of diversity, representatives of international organizations were invited too. I guess without them it would have been a little all- YAP- party.
You wont be surprised what the guests talked about at this event. Well, if you are reading state newspapers and watching state TV you didn't miss much- a lot of praise here and there and there you have it: another "successful" event of the year in the pocket, ticked, and filed (though I am doubtful about filing). So the usual "toasts" were raised- health, strength, wisdom to the all-mighty king Aliyev and his father. Without them who knows where Azerbaijani would have been today.
Ali Ahmadov, deputy chairman and executive secretary of the ruling party spoke of a successful year both for the people and the government. Something was mentioned about economic and social progress though not much was said about what that progress specifically was. Then a bit more about success of 2013, all of course under the guidance of the king. As always, Mr. Ahmadov, took the liberty to make a decision on behalf of Azerbaijani people on the subject of elections- every single Azerbaijani will vote for the president therefore, its going to be a 100% victory, just wait and see (sorry folks but you can't decide on your own, nor you are entitled to have an opinion and don't worry even if you decide not to head to the polls, your vote will be used anyway). In another interview Mr. Ahmadov also was quoted saying "It is in the interest of every family and every citizen" that Ilham Aliyev is re-elected in 2013 elections. Oh boy, I guess this is as explicit as it can get- for all those citizens and families who choose not to vote or vote for someone else (if there will be a someone else that is) this can only mean one thing- "winter is coming".
Another member of the ruling party, and the first deputy prime minister Yagub Eyubov, also spoke of social- economic progress, though once again, what that progress was about remained unexplained. Oh, almost forgot, Mr. Eyubov too said none of the progress would have been possible without the all mighty king. He said something about "precise scientific predictions" too, which confused me even more as I didn't know that the late president was Nostradamus or secretly possessed the power of "precise scientific predictions". There is so much to learn from the members of the ruling party.
Similarly, first deputy speaker of the parliament, Ziyafet Asgarov, mentioned the progress achieved in the country too under the rule of the second kingdom and something about genes, wisdom and more success. This time however, we finally learned more about the achieved progress- democracy, secular state, formation of civil society and protection of human rights.
Shamsaddin Hajiyev, the chairman of the parliamentary committee for education and science didn't forget to hold the king responsible for all the great achievements in the field of economy.
Interesting that the article didn't mention any words of praise from diplomats and internationals attending the event. Perhaps, their opinion was not worth mentioning or maybe not interesting...
I guess at the end, the event guests, all completed a ritual raising their fists up in the air, shouting "All hail the King!"
