Tag Archives: government

Georgia’s PM resigns unexpectedly

DEC. 22 2015, TBILISI (The Conway Bulletin) — Irakli Garibashvili unexpectedly quit as Georgia’s PM, a move that effectively signalled the first shot in what is likely to be a protracted and bitter campaign ahead of parliamentary elections in October.

Known for his combative nature, Mr Garibashvili said he had decided to quit after two years in office because he had achieved his aims.

“We have returned freedom and dignity to our citizens,” he said. “Official posts are temporary, God and homeland are eternal. Therefore today I took a decision to leave the post of Prime Minister.”

Analysts said Bidzina Ivanishvili, Georgia’s richest man and the power behind the ruling Georgian Dream coalition, had decided to sacrifice his protege because of a slump in the polls.

“It was not a statement of a person who wanted to leave,” said Kornely Kakachia, director of the Tbilisi based think tank Georgian Institute of Politics, of Mr Garibashvili’s resignation speech.

“He probably didn’t even know that he was going to be replaced until the day he resigned.”

A recession in Russia and currencies depreciation across the region have impacted Georgia’s economy, hitting the popularity of the Georgian Dream which defeated the party of former president Mikheil Saakashvili, the United National Movement party (UNM), in elections four years ago.

The Georgian Dream coalition and the UNM are bitter rivals and the parliamentary election is likely to be particularly hard fought and vitriolic.

Giorgi Kvirikashvili, a former economy and foreign minister, was appointed PM. He too is close to Mr Ivanishvili , having previously worked at his bank, Cartu Bank.

Mr Kvirikashvili, 48, said his priority was to boost the economy, a message that appears to have gone down well on the streets of Tbilisi.

Georgian Dream supporter Giorgi Abaladze said the appointment of Mr Kvirikashvili was positive.

“Personally I really like Kvirikashvili. The previous PM was a little bit harsh in his position, he seemed more radical,” he said. “And Kvirikashvili is an economist, and that is what we need in these harsh economic times.”

Kazakh President’s nephew quits Nur Otan

DEC. 19 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kairat Satybaldy, the 45-year-old nephew of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, quit as secretary of the Nur Otan party, one of the most high profile and influential political jobs in the country. Nur Otan is Mr Nazarbayev’s political party. Mr Satybaldy had been secretary of Nur Otan for six years. Some analysts have said he is a potential successor to Mr Nazarbayev.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 262, published on Jan. 8 2016)

Azerbaijan shakes up security

DEC. 14 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree to create two new security agencies, the State Security Service and the Foreign Intelligence Service, and disband the National Security Ministry. Earlier this year, Mr Aliyev sacked Eldar Mahmudov as national security minister. The next day police arrested several ministry officials.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 261, published on Dec. 20 2015)

Kazakh TransGas names new CEO

DEC. 11 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – KazTransGas, Kazakhstan’s gas distributor, named Rustam Suleymanov as its new CEO. Mr Suleymanov has worked at KazTransGas for 15 years. Former CEO Kairat Sharipbayev was named chairman of the board.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 261, published on Dec. 20 2015)

Turkmen President criticises head of Central Bank

DEC. 8 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) -Turkmenistan’s President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov reprimanded the head of the Central Bank and the head of the Commodity Exchange Agency at a government meeting, the Trend news agency reported.

Although details of the dressing- down were thin, as expected from Turkmenistan, it does indicate that, perhaps, Mr Berdymukhamedov is feeling the economic strain.

There have been a number of reports coming out of Turkmenistan over the year that show the country’s economy is under pressure from a drop in energy prices, a recession in Russia and a fall in value of currencies across Emerging Markets. At the start of the year the Central Bank devalued the manat currency by 19%. Last month, dissident websites reported that currency controls had been imposed.

And now this.

Trend reported that Mr Berdymukhamedov had told Central Bank chief Merdan Annadurdiyev and the head of the commodities exchange, Amandurdi Ishanov, that their work had been substandard. The report didn’t give any specific examples.

Mr Berdymukhamedov is keen on giving ministers a public dressing down. These reprimands generally betray some of his thinking on the country’s development. By focusing on the Central Bank and the commodities exchange, Mr Berdymukhamedov is showing his frustration with the economy.

With the distinct lack of accurate economic data flowing out of Turkmenistan, this is important.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 260, published on Dec. 11 2015)

Turkmenistan bans USD

DEC. 5 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – State workers in Turkmenistan have been told they are not allowed to buy foreign currencies, the dissident website chrono-tm.org reported. The website, which is based in Europe but has good sources in Turkmenistan, said that the country is running out of US dollars. Its reports have been proved accurate previously although this report could not be independently verified.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 260, published on Dec. 11 2015)

Armenians vote to hand more power to the PM

DEC. 6 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenians voted overwhelmingly in a constitutional referendum to shift power from the president to the prime minister, a move supporters of the change said was a natural modernising step but its critics decried as a thinly veiled power-grab by President Serzh Sargsyan.

The Central Election Commission said 63% of people had voted in favour of the referendum, a far bigger margin of victory than polls had predicted in the run up to the vote.

But Armenia’s opposition said that the vote had been rigged and urged an investigation, a move supported by the US embassy.

Hundreds of people gathered in Yerevan’s central square after the referendum to protest again the result.

Turnout at the vote, though, was reportedly low, despite the high-profile nature of the reforms. Some analysts said the low turnout betrayed people’s belief that the changes had been brought in to improve the position of the ruling elite rather than update the political system.

Lilit Gevorgyan, an analyst at IHS, said that shifting to a parliamentary system was dressed up as a progressive move but was in fact a way for the political and economic elite to shore up their positions.

“It’s an innovative way of solving the succession issue,” she said.

The new rules are set to be introduced at a parliamentary election in March 2017. Mr Sargsyan is set to leave the presidency in 2018.

As well as handing a slimmed down parliament of 101 members elected via proportional representation more power, the new constitution builds in a run-off system which will ensure a majority for a single party.

This last issue was also contentious.

The reformists argued that this system avoided weak minority governments. Its opponents said it bordered on a form of totalitarian rule.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 260, published on Dec. 11 2015)

Tajikistan cuts electricity exports

DEC. 8 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajikistan’s public utilities company Barqi Tojik said it had stopped exporting electricity to Kyrgyzstan and Afghanistan because of a seasonal shortage of supply, showing the weakness of Tajikistan’s power generating infrastructure.

The decision to halt exports also poses major questions over Tajikistan’s plans to become a regional power exporter. Only last week, foreign ministers from the countries involved in the CASA-1000 project signed a final agreement in Istanbul which should power the project forward.

The CASA-1000 project will link Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan to Pakistan, which is short in power, via Afghanistan.

The export cut by Barqi Tojik is a routine measure to satisfy domestic demand during the peak winter season but the company said hydro-power plants suffered from lower- than-normal production this year.

“Water levels are today roughly 10% lower than last year,” said Barqi Tojik in a statement on Dec. 8.

For CASA-1000 to be a success, Tajikistan needs to build more hydropower capacity.

Shutting off power supplies to Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan during the winter months highlights this issue.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 260, published on Dec. 11 2015)

Kazakh president signs NGO law

DEC. 2 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev signed into law the creation of an agency under the ministry of justice that will be charged with the responsibility of approving funding to non-government agencies. The law has proved controversial with campaigners saying that it is similar to a law introduced by Russia which banned NGOs from taking funding from foreign organisations.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 259, published on Dec. 4 2015)

Georgian president appoints new head of pres. admin

DEC. 4 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgian president Giorgi Margvelashvili appointed Giorgi Abashishvili, his economics adviser, as head of his presidential administration. Media said Mr Abashishvili was the third head of the presidential administration since Mr Margvelashvili took office in 2013.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 259, published on Dec. 4 2015)