The chairman position of the Azerbaijan Union of Cinematographers has been vacant for more than three months. People's Artist Rasim Balayev, who held the chairman position since 2022, passed away on March 29 of this year.
Medianews.az reports that on May 8, the Board of Directors decided to hold an extraordinary general meeting – a congress at the end of the month to elect a chairman and initially recommended First Secretary Shafikah Mammadova and Executive Secretary Ali Isa Jabbarov as candidates for chairman at the congress.
However, one day before the event – on May 25 – a group of members of the union, including Shafikah Mammadova, issued a statement claiming that the statutory requirements were violated during the preparation process for the meeting and demanded the postponement of the meeting and the reorganization of the chairman election.
Despite this demand, the event was held on May 26, but due to a boycott by the opposing side, a quorum was not met to elect the chairman. At the insistence of more than 160 delegates, a symbolic vote was held and Ali Isa Jabbarov won the majority of votes.
However, since it was symbolic in nature, that vote has no legal effect. In other words, Ali Isa Jabbarov is not the chairman of the Azerbaijan Union of Cinematographers; he remains the executive secretary as before.
Shafikah Mammadova is responsible for temporarily exercising the chairman's powers as the first secretary.
So when will the chairman of the Azerbaijan Union of Cinematographers be elected? When will the congress take place?
Medianews.az sent a written inquiry to the Union of Cinematographers with these questions. However, more than two weeks have passed since then, and the inquiry has not been answered.
After the scandals in May, a deep silence prevails regarding the next chairman election in the Azerbaijan Union of Cinematographers...
Naila Gasimova,
Medianews.az