Tag Archives: government

Uzbek PM website introduces comment section

SEPT. 24 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The website of the Uzbek PM’s office introduced a comment section for the first time, allowing citizens and registered companies to file complaints and suggestions electronically directly to the PM. The section is highly visible on the homepage of the PM’s website. Citizens can also file their requests through a hotline or by visiting the regional headquarters of UzLiDeP, the ruling party.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 298, published on Sept. 30 2016)

Kazakh authorities refuse protest

SEPT. 16 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Atyrau city government denied a petition by Mothers in White Headscarves, a women’s protest group in Kazakhstan, which sought to hold a rally on Sept. 17. Public protests against worsening economic conditions in Kazakhstan have been becoming more frequent in Kazakhstan. Around 1,000 Atyrau citizens demonstrated against a proposed land reform in April, the largest protest in Kazakhstan for the past few years.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 297, published on Sept. 23 2016)

Kyrgyz President falls ill in Istanbul with chest pains

BISHKEK, SEPT. 19 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kyrgyz president Almazbek Atambayev cancelled a trip to the UN General Assembly meeting in New York because he was feeling unwell and was suffering from chest pains.

Instead, Mr Atambayev diverted his plane to Istanbul where he checked into a hotel and was examined by doctors. Only four hours later Mr Atambayev flew down to Izmir on the Mediterranean coast for a break and to convalesce. He would, his press team said, be back at work by next month.

On Friday, he was reported to have flown to Moscow for more treatment.

In Bishkek, speculation swirled across kitchen tables, bars and shops over the state of the President’s health, his no-show at the UN General Assembly and his unscheduled stopover in Izmir and Istanbul.

Rita Karasartova, an opposition activist, said “While Atambayev is in Turkey, there could be arrests (of opposition activists) here. After the arrests, Atambayev could say he did not know anything about it because he was out of country.”

Other, pro-Atambayev analysts, disagreed.

Mr Atambayev has cut a divisive figure. He has proposed constitutional amendments to hand the PM more power and quarrelled with his predecessor Roza Otunbayeva.

And his health has been the focus of speculation previously. Two years ago he took to walking with a stick. His press team said that he had a knee condition but they couldn’t stop the image of a frail-looking president.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 297, published on Sept. 23 2016)

Kazakh Baiterek appoints new director

SEPT. 21 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Rustam Kusainov, former adviser to the ministry of economy, was appointed managing director of the government-owned Baiterek holding. Former minister of economy Yerbolat Dossayev is Baiterek’s CEO. Mr Kusainov’s took the IT portfolio at Baiterek. The holding administers several companies in the financial and insurance sectors.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 297, published on Sept. 23 2016)f

Uzbek President fires governor

SEPT. 16 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Acting Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev fired the governor of Jizzakh, his native province in the east of the country, for ‘serious shortcomings’. The phrase is a hollow formula that former President Islam Karimov used often when firing an official. Abdukahkhar Tukhtayev will now replace Asror Kobilov, who had been in charge since 2009, as the Jizzakh governor.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 297, published on Sept. 23 2016)

Council of Europe criticises Azerbaijan referendum

SEPT. 21 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Venice Commission, a panel of constitutional experts working under the Council of Europe, criticised the upcoming referendum in Azerbaijan, which calls for an extension of presidential terms from five to seven years and other laws which it said would consolidate power in the hands of President Ilham Aliyev.

In a statement, the Venice Commission said that the proposed legal amendments will effectively allow Mr Aliyev to rule indefinitely.

“Many proposed amendments would severely upset the balance of power by giving unprecedented powers to the president,” the lawyers of the Venice Commission said in a statement.

Azerbaijani officials said that the Commission was out of line in judging the proposed amendments which will be voted on in a referendum on Sept. 26.

“The referendum doesn’t expand presidential powers, this is about improving governance,” Shahin Aliyev, head the Presidential Administration’s law unit, told local media.

Mr Aliyev has already tinkered with Azerbaijan’s constitution when he scrapped a limit on presidential terms in 2009.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 297, published on Sept. 23 2016)

Kazakh President daughter denies rumours

SEPT. 16 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Dariga Nazarbayeva, the recently- appointed Senator and eldest daughter of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, dismissed rumours regarding her role in a potential succession to her father. At a press conference in Astana, she said she was a proud servant of the country and a member of the presidential team, and that she holds no further ambition. Analysts believe she could be being lined up as a successor.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 297, published on Sept. 23 2016)

Armenia’s power vertical looks fragile

SEPT. 23 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – >> Economic stagnation, an unpopular president, a new PM and demonstrations over the summer in favour of a group of gunmen who captured a police station. Is Armenian in something of a crises?

>> You could certainly say that. It’s been a torrid 12 months for President Serzh Sargsyan, starting with demonstrations in the summer of 2015 against proposed electricity price rises. The government said that it had to introduce price rises to counter a fall in the value of the Armenian dram and a general economic downturn. Ordinary people, though, clearly weren’t prepared to stomach the price rise. They took to the streets and faced down the police, forcing the Armenian government to drop its price increase. The incident damaged Sargsyan and the then PM Hovik Abrahamian.

Since then, though, things have gotten worse. The economic just hasn’t picked up. There’s been something of a dead cat bounce in Armenia. It just hasn’t lifted and people are getting frustrated. This and the botched handling of the siege and hostage scenario at a police station in the capital in July contributed to Abrahamian having to quit as PM. He had only been in the job for two years.

Don’t forget, too, fighting in the Armenia-controlled region of Nagorno-Karabakh in April when Azerbaijan rolled in its tanks. The outbreak of fighting appeared to take the Armenia’s leadership by surprise, again embarrassing Sargsyan.

>> And how has this impacted Sargsyan?

>> His authority has definitely been affected. Sargsyan has never been wildly popular among ordinary Armenians. He’s won a couple of elections but both have been disputed and turnouts have been modest. In 2008, when he won his first presidential election, police shot dead at least 15 protesters after anti-Sargsyan protesters had taken over the main squares in Yerevan for a couple of weeks. Part of Sargsyan’s problem is an image problem. He comes across as cold and aloof. His power base is also centred on Nagorno-Karabakh, where he is from, and people suspect that he favours this clique. He’s certainly enriched his family and friends as president. The recent turmoil, and especially the stagnant economy, will only undermine his standing further.

>> Does this mean that Armenia’s opposition have a chance of taking over?

>> It’ll be very difficult for them. Sargsyan has the power of the Republican Party behind him. This is a formidable election machine as was shown in regional election when despite all the problems it still won just over half the local elections held on Sept. 18. Still, there was a wobble. The Republican Party lost 30 of these local elections, considered a blow to its prestige and clout.

>> And the new PM, Karen Karapetyan, how does he feed into all this?

>> Karapetyan is seasoned operator. He used to be the mayor of Yerevan, one of the most high profile jobs in the country, and was also an executive at the local branch of Gazprom. This means that he is already well- known to Russian officials, very important to Armenia which relies on Russia as one of its few allies.

His brother is Samvel who is one of the richest Armenians. He owns a property empire in Moscow and last year rode to the rescue of the Armenian government by buying the national electricity distribution company after the government backed down from angry protesters who didn’t want to pay a price rise.

The appointment of Karapetyan, puts his family at the centre of Armenian politics. This is the power duo to watch in Armenia. Sargsyan, who is eligible to run in a presidential election set for 2018, is increasingly reliant on the Karapetyans.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 297, published on Sept. 23 2016)

Azerbaijani court sentences bus driver in Euro Games crash

BAKU, SEPT. 19 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — The bus driver who crashed into a group of Austrian teenage swimmers inside the athletes’ village on the eve of Baku’s European Games last year was sentenced to three years in prison for breaking road rules, but a security company camera-man who recorded and circulated the footage of the crash on the internet was found guilty of abuse of office and sentenced to four years in jail.

Footage of the crash showed a coach swinging through a roundabout too quickly and then mowing over the Austrian swimmers. One of the swimmers was left severely disabled and the accident overshadowed the Games.

The different length of prison sentences has concerned many Azerbaijanis who question the fairness of a justice system in which the man who made the information public was punished more harshly than the driver of the coach.

“You don’t have to be a lawyer to say that this judgment is completely disproportional. Recording and sharing such a video should not be a crime. It’s not a state secret,” Said, a 20-year old student at Baku State University told The Conway Bulletin.

“The government tried to cover the incident because they invested millions of dollars in the Games and didn’t want that to spoil their international image. But if they truly care about it, they should make sure the trial is fair. It clearly wasn’t.”

Three Austrian synchronised swimmers were hit by the coach on June 13, a day before the start of the European Games. Two of them, suffering from multiple broken bones and spine injury, were flown to Vienna on the personal jet of Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev.

The driver of the coach pleaded guilty, saying he had mistaken the accelerator for the brake pedal.

Azerbaijan had tried to use the inaugural European Games in Baku to promote itself. Instead the Games were marred by the coach crash, another serious car crash and mediocre sporting performances.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 297, published on Sept. 23 2016)

Armenian President appoints new ministers

SEPT. 20 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenia’s President Serzh Sargsyan appointed a handful of new ministers, purging the previous government of Hovik Abrahamyan. Notably, Vardan Aramyan will be the new finance minister, Vahan Martirosyan was appointed transport and communications minister, while Ashot Manukyan will serve as energy minister. Mr Abrahamyan resigned earlier this month after a fall in the government’s popularity. He said a new government was needed.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 297, published on Sept. 23 2016)