Expulsion from the ranks of her own party, "voluntary-compulsory" rejection of the parliamentary mandate and a prosecution - a week ago, the MP of the ruling party in Azerbaijan, "Yeni Azerbaijan", Gular Ahmadova, could not imagine that she would suddenly turn from a successful politician into a participant in a scandal which would put an unsightly end to her political career. Looking back, at the beginning of last week, video discrediting Ahmadova circulated in social networks. It is clear from the video, recorded seven years ago, that the ex-deputy of the ruling party “sold” a seat in parliament for the price of one million manats to the former rector of the private (closed in 2010) Azerbaijani International University, Elshad Abdullayev.
The video was apparently about the parliamentary elections in 2005. It is noteworthy that Elshad Abdullayev, a member of "Yeni Azerbaijan", actually nominated his candidacy then, and his victory in the constituency was even announced at first. But it turned out that this victory was a "fake": the CEC revealed major irregularities and fraud during the vote count, and a candidate from the opposition party "Musavat", Arzu Samedov, gained victory. The executive secretary of "Yeni Azerbaijan", Siyavush Novruzov, announced on October 1 that Elshad Abdullayev had been expelled from the party. However, he stressed that "Yeni Azerbaijan" never supported the parliamentary election candidate Elshad Abdullayev.
Thus, Abdullayev’s attempt to buy a seat failed in 2005, and now, after 7 years, details have emerged that shed light on the incidence of fraud. The hidden video was made and posted on the Internet by Elshad Abdullayev himself, who was allegedly deceived by Ahmadova taking a large sum of money from him for the service too hard for her. Now, living at a safe distance from the center of events – in Strasbourg – Abdullayev thus decided to take revenge on his partner in the failed transaction.
The head of the Department of Public and Political Affairs of the presidential administration of Azerbaijan, Ali Hasanov, became the first official to respond to the scandal surrounding Ahmadova, unveiling the government's position. "The online video distributed by means of information resources with the participation of MP Gular Ahmedova and the former Rector of the Azerbaijani International University Elshad Abdullayev provides the basis for appropriate action to be taken under the anti-corruption policies of the state," Ali Hasanov said, Trend reports.
"This material really shows the disappointed desires of people like Elshad Abdullayev to find an illegal path to state bodies to receive a position, on the one hand, and the resistance of government bodies to such instances, on the other hand. The government's attitude to such facts is that the intentions of people who want to get a position by means of such a way or to be represented in elected bodies were not carried out, are not carried out and will never be carried out. These people will eventually be exposed to the public. I have no doubt that the authorities will take the necessary measures concerning materials distributed on the Internet," Hasanov concluded.
Following Hasanov, the ruling party of the country itself took the floor. The Deputy Chairman of "Yeni Azerbaijan", Ali Ahmadov, made a statement on the scandal. "The fraud of Gular Ahmadova is regarded by us as a stain on the ruling party. At the same time, of course, having done something similar, Gular Ahmadova lost the moral right to represent the party "Yeni Azerbaijan" in parliament. This is the position of each member of the party," he said. "Legitimacy, transparency, an uncompromising fight against corruption and other moral values and principles form the basis of government policy. Scammers violating the law and losing their morals will always be incriminated," Ahmadov said.
The General Prosecutor's Office of Azerbaijan has opened a criminal case under Article 178.3.2 (fraud, that is, the acquisition of someone else’s property or buying another property by deception or abuse of trust) against the former deputy. According to Prosecutor General Zakir Garalov, the course of the investigation is under the personal supervision of President Ilham Aliyev. Ahmadova, if she is found guilty, will be sentenced to imprisonment of 7 to 12 years. The ex-MP herself, before resigning from the party, insisted that the video was no more than a video montage. However, even her own party leadership did not believe in this version.
The distribution of the discrediting video about Gular Ahmadova shook the domestic scene of Azerbaijan, which had long been in absolute stasis (the "seasonal working off" of the Azerbaijani opposition to foreign sponsors in preparing and holding Eurovision in Baku could hardly be called serious political activities). Undoubtedly, a corruption scandal involving a deputy from the ruling party will inevitably have a negative impact on the image of "Yeni Azerbaijan", and this party’s officials themselves recognize this. Surgical exclusion of the guilty deputy from the party ranks is, in this case, the least of the possible evils. It should be noted that at a time when the fight against corruption is the priority for the state, designated by the president and chairman of "Yeni Azerbaijan”, the chances of a sympathetic attitude on the part of party members and the authorities in general to Gular Ahmadova were few.
The Azerbaijani opposition, united in a structure called the "Public Chamber", did not miss the opportunity to use this story to once again question the legitimacy of the current members of parliament. However, the arguments of the opposition would be an order of magnitude stronger if Elshad Abdullayev had actually managed to get into parliament. However, the fact that during the elections in 2005 the CEC found violations in the electoral district from which Abdullaev was nominated and as a result cancelled his undeserved victory, gives the government the ability to fend off accusations from the opposition.
Another essential point which is noteworthy in all this dubious history is the increased role of social networks as an effective information channel with a broad reach. The number of Facebook users in Azerbaijan threatens to reach a million in the near future, and already over 50% of the total population have access to the Internet, according to the UN. The case of Gular Ahmadova, which scandalised the online audience of the country demonstrates that virtual space, in particular social networking, is to some extent starting to take over the function of civil control.
