Activist Community Celebrates Success in Municipal Elections
The community of Hesenly in southern Azerbaijan was well-known during the Soviet times for writing complaint letters to central Moscow. Its residents were called “truth-tellers” or “complaint-writers” and there is an anecdote saying that “a person from Hesenly even uses paper currency to write complaints.” With this activism culture, Hesenly was one of the first villages to raise their voices against the Soviet system, sparking the call for independence in Azerbaijan. Today, a railway runs through the rural village, connecting the country’s southern region with the capital, Baku. Residents primarily earn their livelihood through agriculture—vegetable, melon, and grain farming. The total population is over 2,700, and people rarely leave their community.
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Four Community Development Council members in Hesenly were recently
elected to municipal posts after fraudulent elections were rescheduled
Photo Credit: CHF |
On May 26, USAID’s Community Development Activity project held a community-wide meeting in Hesenly to inform residents of the establishment of a Community Development Council to facilitate collaboration between the community and governmental authorities. More than 100 people enthusiastically gathered for the meeting in hopes of solving their community problems. Twelve very active community members were elected to the council to represent their community for one year.
The development council election process was a positive contrast to the fraudulent 2005 municipality election, where the election outcome was rejected by this “complaint-writing” village, and, according to the law, a new election was re-scheduled for October 11, 2006. With such an active council and community, it was no surprise that four council members were nominated as candidates for the municipality’s rescheduled election. Through the community activism and demonstrated democratic practices of the Council members, all four community development council municipality candidates were fairly elected to the Hesenly Municipality Council on October 11.
The council members’ election success is a testament to the important role USAID’s community project plays in strengthening democracy in Azerbaijan. The Community Development Council and Municipality Council are examples of local representative bodies that are the cornerstone of civil society. USAID congratulates the newly-elected Municipality Council and applauds the citizens for assuming responsibility for their own community and taking action to make changes for a better future in Azerbaijan.
“USAID’s Community Development Activity is an innovative program, which fosters lasting community and economic development in north-east, north-west and south districts of Azerbaijan. But that really depends on the citizens and local government working in partnership and being active in their community,” note Hesenly community members.
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