National Assembly (Azerbaijan)

First meeting of the Azerbaijani Parliament

Parliament in 1918

  Musavat and Independents: 40 seats

  Ittihad: 14 seats

  Ahrar: 8 seats

  Socialists: 14 seats

  Independents: 4 seats

  Unaffiliated: 4 seats

  Left independent: 1 seat

  Slavic alliance: 5 seats

  Ethnic minorities: 7 seats

  Armenian fraction: 5 seats

  Dashnaksutyun: 7 seats

  Vacant: 11 seats

Following the Russian Revolution in February 1917, a special committee consisting of deputies from Transcaucasian State Duma was created. In November, Transcaucasian Commissariat was created as the first government of independent Transcaucasia. The Sejm made up of representatives of three nations did not have a solid political platform as each nation looked after its own interests. This subsequently led to the dissolution of the Sejm on 25 May 1918.

On 27 May, 44 Muslim deputies of the Sejm gathered in Tbilisi and established Azerbaijan National Council to form the government of Azerbaijan. Mammad Emin Rasulzade was elected its chairman. On 28 May, the National Council passed a resolution proclaiming the independence of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic. On 16 June, the National Council and the Azerbaijani government moved to Ganja. At the seventh session of the council in Ganja chaired by Mammad Emin Rasulzade, it was decided to dissolve the council and transfer all legislative and executive power to the interim government of Azerbaijan headed by Fatali Khan Khoyski. Once the government was established, Azerbaijani was made the official state language. One of the priorities of the government before moving to Baku was to liberate Baku from Centrocaspian Dictatorship then in control of the city which took place on 15 September 1918. On 16 November when the National Council reconvenes and on 19 November, Rasulzade announces that all nationalities of Azerbaijan will be represented in the Azerbaijani Parliament to consist of 120 deputies.

Therefore, basing on 24 thousand representatives of nationalities of Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijani parliament made up of 80 Muslims, 21 Armenians, 10 Russians, 1 German, and 1 Jew was established on 29 November and convened on 7 December 1918. Thus, the first session of the parliament took place in the building of former Zeynalabdin Tagiyev Russian Muslim School located on present-day Istiglaliyyat Street of Baku and was chaired by Rasulzade. Alimardan Topchubashov was elected the Speaker of the Parliament, Hasanbey Agayev – Deputy Speaker. By the end of 1919, there were 11 various political party factions in the parliament represented by 96 deputies. During its 17-month existence, the parliament held 145 sessions with the last session being convened on 27 April 1920 on the eve of the Russian occupation of Azerbaijan. A total of 270 resolutions were sponsored, 230 of which were passed. Parliamentary delegations of Azerbaijan signed several friendship treaties with Turkey, Iran, Great Britain, and the US and a defense pact with Georgia; attended Paris Peace Conference several times requesting recognition from Western countries. In January 1920, Azerbaijan Democratic Republic was de facto recognized by the Peace Conference.[4]

During the last session of the Azerbaijani Parliament on 27 April 1920 under the pressure of the Bolshevik Russian 11th Red Army and an ultimatum from the Caucasian Committee of the Russian Communist Party which invaded Azerbaijan, the deputies decided to disband the government in favor of the Bolsheviks to avoid bloodshed. Once the Bolsheviks took over, they abolished all structures of the Azerbaijani government and established the Azerbaijan Interim Revolutionary Committee administered by Azerbaijani communists Nariman Narimanov, Aliheydar Garayev, Gazanfar Musabekov, Hamid Sultanov and Dadash Bunyadzade. The Bolsheviks dissolved the Azerbaijani Army, executed its generals and officers, and nationalized private industries.

In May 1921, the first All-Azerbaijan Soviet Session made up of newly elected deputies from all regions of Azerbaijan convened in Baku. The elected deputies were mainly drawn from poor, uneducated, unprepared factory workers and villagers which facilitated complete rule from Moscow. The first session established the Azerbaijan Central Executive Committee consisting of 75 members and its board with 13 members. From 1921 through 1937, nine sessions of All-Azerbaijan Soviets were convened. In 1937, during the 9th session of the All-Azerbaijani Soviets a new Azerbaijan SSR Constitution was ratified and the new legislative body the Supreme Soviet of Azerbaijan SSR was established.

The first elections to Supreme Soviet took place on 24 June 1938. Out of 310 deputies elected, 107 were workers, 88 collective farmers and 115 educated civil servants. Seventy-two of the deputies were women. Due to the authoritarian nature of Soviet rule where most new initiatives were met as conspiracies against the state, the parliament was virtually ineffective. Due to multiple reforms and restructuring in the government of the Azerbaijan SSR in the 1970s–1980s, the role of the Supreme Soviet increased. Many legislative reforms including the ratification of the new Azerbaijan SSR Constitution of 1977 took place. After the demands of the Armenian SSR to transfer the NKAO region of Azerbaijan to Armenia, the parliament was largely passive and indifferent. On 18 October 1991 the Supreme Soviet passed a resolution confirming the restoration of the independence of Azerbaijan.[5]