AZE.US
Economist and politician Natig Jafarli has called for serious changes to Azerbaijan’s constitutional system, arguing that the current role of the prime minister and the Cabinet of Ministers lacks clear political responsibility.
Jafarli said Azerbaijan should decide whether it needs the institution of prime minister in its current form at all. In a presidential system, he argued, the president already chairs meetings, gives instructions, listens to reports and publicly criticizes officials. That, in his view, leaves the role of the Cabinet of Ministers unclear.
He said there are two possible ways forward.
One option would be to abolish the institution of prime minister and the Cabinet of Ministers as a separate political layer. The other, which Jafarli said he supports, would be to turn the post into a real governing institution with clear authority and accountability.
Under his proposed model, the president would remain head of state with broad powers over foreign policy, the army, national security and strategic oversight. But the government would be formed through parliament and would carry direct responsibility for social and economic policy.
Jafarli said this would require a proportional electoral system, where parties enter parliament and form a government or coalition. That government would then be accountable to both parliament and the president.
If the president is dissatisfied with the government’s performance on social and economic issues, he said, the Cabinet could be dismissed and parliament would be asked to form a new government.
For Jafarli, the issue is not about individual officials. He said the real question is how institutions work.
He argued that if Azerbaijan keeps the office of prime minister, it should be a position with real political substance. The prime minister and Cabinet should come from parliament, be supervised by parliament, report to parliament and answer for the country’s social and economic results.
At present, he said, the government has authority but does not carry real responsibility.
Jafarli pointed to economic performance as an example. He said that if gross domestic product growth is weak, or if the economy declines in a given quarter, the Cabinet should have to explain itself before parliament.
In such a system, he said, ministers would have to acknowledge when they fail and step aside if they cannot deliver results.
That, Jafarli argued, is what real accountability means: not only having powers, but also being responsible for the consequences of government policy.
AZE.US