Tag Archives: politics

Armenia parliament appoints Pashinyan as PM

Leave a Reply

JAN. 14 (The Conway Bulletin) — Nikol Pashinyan was reinstated as Armenia’s PM, finalising a revolution he led in April/May 2018. His My Step coalition won 88 out of 132 seats at an election in December, meaning that it automatically nominated the PM. Mr Pashinyan had been the leader of a revolution that overthrew a government lead by the Republican Party’s Serzh Sargsyan. Mr Sargsyan had been president for a decade and had then tried to switch to be PM, a role he had empowered through a new constitution. This switch triggered the revolution.
END

>>This story was first published in issue 397 of The Conway Bulletin on Jan. 20 2019

Georgian opposition call for more protests

Leave a Reply

DEC. 17 (The Conway Bulletin) – Defeated Georgian presidential candidate Grigol Vashadze of the United National Movement party (UNM) reiterated his call for supporters to continue to protest daily against what he has described as a “stolen election”. Mr Vashadze, a former foreign minister, lost to Salome Zurabishvili in the second round of a presidential election last month, polling 40% of the vote compared to her 60%. His supporters accuse Georgia’s richest man, Bidzina Ivanishvili, of bribing the electorate to support Ms Zurabishvili, his preferred candidate.

ENDS

>>This story was first published in issue 395 of The Conway Bulletin on Dec. 23 2018

Kazakh police detain anti-government protesters

Leave a Reply

DEC. 16/17 (The Conway Bulletin) – Police in Kazakhstan detained several opposition activists over two days during events aimed at marking both the shooting dead of several protesters in the oil town of Zhanaozen in 2011 and the anniversary of a crackdown on anti-Soviet demonstrations in Almaty in 1986. The anniversaries have become a traditional day of anti-government protest in Kazakhstan. Anti-government protests in Kazakhstan are rare and generally not tolerated.

ENDS

>>This story was first published in issue 395 of The Conway Bulletin on Dec. 23 2018

Kazakh court jails three men in Ablyazov linked case

Leave a Reply

DEC. 21 (The Conway Bulletin) – A court in Almaty sent three men — Kenzhebek Abishev, Oralbek Omirov, and Almat Zhumaghulov — to jail on terrorism-related charges after finding them guilty of promoting banned political movement Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan, set up by exiled opposition leader Mukhtar Ablyazov. Free speech activists have said the trial was politically motivated. Last month, during the trial Zhumaghulov and Omirov had also slashed their forearms in protest.

ENDS

>>This story was first published in issue 395 of The Conway Bulletin on Dec. 23 2018

Kocharyan criticises Pashinyan

Leave a Reply

YEREVAN/Oct. 13 (The Conway Bulletin) – In an interview with Bloomberg, former Armenian President Robert Kocharyan criticised the government of PM Nikol Pashinyan and said that it should be challenged, a hint, perhaps, that he may be prepared to make a political comeback. Mr Kocharyan, who said in the interview that he has “regular contact” with Russian President Vladimir Putin, was Armenia’s president for a decade until 2008. He is now under investigation, though, for his role in the shooting dead of 10 anti-government protesters by the security forces after the 2008 presidential election. Mr Pashinyan, the current PM, came to power after a revolution in April and May.

ENDS

>>This story was first published in issue 388 of The Conway Bulletin on Oct. 17 2018

Kyrgyz court strips ex-presidents of immunity

Leave a Reply

BISHKEK/Oct. 3 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan effectively stripped former president Almazbek Atambayev of his immunity from prosecution after the Supreme Court ruled it was an unconstitutional benefit enjoyed by Kyrgyz former leaders. The ruling is a victory for President Sooronbai Jeenbekov who has argued with his predecessor and mentor since taking over in December last year. that they have drummed up. The IPO market has weakened over the year, possibly delaying Kazakhstan’s IPO plans, but Kazatomprom’s GDR listing is not enough to give ordinary investors a decent buy-in into Kazakhstan and Kazakh companies.

ENDS

>>This story was first published in issue 388 of The Conway Bulletin on Oct. 17 2018

Jeenbekov appoints new foreign minister in Kyrgyzstan

Leave a Reply

OCT. 17 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyz president Sooronbai Jeenbekov appointed Chyngyz Aidarbekov as his new foreign minister, a replacement for Erlan Abdyldaev who had resigned five days earlier after a series of corruption scandals. Mr Abdyldaev denied corruption allegations that Kyrgyzstan’s ambassador to South Korea, Kylychbek Sultan, had levied at him. The row between Mr Abdyldaev and Mr Sultan came less than a month after a Kyrgyz deputy minister was sacked for being drunk and disorderly on a flight back from Seoul.

ENDS

>>This story was first published in issue 388 of The Conway Bulletin on Oct. 17 2018

Pashinyan resigns as PM

Leave a Reply

YEREVAN/Oct. 16 (The Conway Bulletin) – Nikol Pashinyan resigned as Armenia’s PM to try to force Parliament into calling for a snap election.

His resignation had been expected as the political stand-off over another election has escalated. Under Armenia’s constitution, a snap parliamentary election can only be called if the PM resigns and the 105-seat Parliament, where Mr Pashinyan’s party is in a minority, fails to replace him within two weeks.

“The objective of my resignation is to conclude the revolution by means of holding a snap election and returning the power to the people,” he said on national TV.

He was buoyed last month when his candidate for the Yerevan mayoral election won a crushing victory. Mr Pashinyan came to power as head of a revolution in April/May that swept away the ruling Republican Party.

He is wildly popular in Armenia and although the Republican Party is still the largest party in Parliament, it is not expected to oppose another election. A vote is expected in December.

ENDS

>>This story was first published in issue 388 of The Conway Bulletin on Oct. 17 2018

Uzbek opposition activist returns home

Leave a Reply

SEPT. 26 (The Conway Bulletin) – Prominent Uzbek opposition activist Tolib Yoqubov, 78, returned to Uzbekistan for the first time in more than a decade from Paris where he had been living in exile. Mr Yoqubov had been a persistent critic of former Uzbek leader Islam Karimov and had fled the country in 2007, fearing for his life. Current Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev is planning to visit Paris next month to meet with French Pres. Emmanuel Macron.
-ENDS-
>>This story was published in issue 387 of The Conway Bulletin on Oct. 1 2018

UNM candidate heads Georgian presidential election poll

Leave a Reply

SEPT. 28 (The Conway Bulletin) – A poll for the Rustavi-2 TV station in Georgia said that Grigol Vashadze of the United National Movement party, the party of former president Mikheil Saakashvili, was favourite to win the first round of a presidential election set for Oct. 28 with 22% of the votes. Second in the opinion poll was Davit Bakradze of European Georgia with 18%. Salome Zurabishvili, endorsed by the ruling Georgian Dream, came in third. Opinion polls in Georgia are notoriously fickle. This is the last vote for a directly elected president in Georgia. If there is no clear winner the top two go into a second round.
ENDS
>>This story was published in issue 387 of The Conway Bulletin on Oct. 1 2018