Tag Archives: politics

Karimov boosts parliament powers in Uzbekistan

DEC. 6 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — At a ceremony to mark the 21st anniversary of Uzbekistan’s Constitution, President Islam Karimov played the role of the democrat.

He said he wanted Parliament to be stronger and to play a more defined role in public life. What he wanted to see, he said, was parliament monitoring both ministers and the decision-making process. To extend the Uzbek parliament’s reach and power, Mr Karimov said he would have to alter with the country’s already much tinkered with constitution.

Mr Karimov, though, is not known as a democrat and he was paying only lip-service to the idea of a powerful parliament. In reality it rubber stamps his decisions.

For foreign businesses and analysts, the underlying message of Mr Karimov’s latest pronouncement is that he is happy to alter Uzbekistan’s constitution to give more window dressing to the idea that parliamentary democracy exists in Uzbekistan.

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(News report from Issue No. 164, published on Dec. 11 2013)

Uzbek security services to decide power struggle

DEC. 10 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — The top members of the Uzbek national security service and not President Islam Karimov are the main king-makers in Uzbekistan, analysts told The Bulletin. Mr Karimov’s eldest daughter, Gulnara Karimova, has been locked in a struggle for power in Uzbekistan.

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(News report from Issue No. 164, published on Dec. 11 2013)

MP jailed in Azerbaijan

DEC. 2 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — A court in Baku jailed former Azerbaijani MP Gular Akhmadova for three years for corruption. In 2005, Akhmadova had tried to extort a $1m bribe from the owner of an Azerbaijani university in exchange for a seat in parliament.

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(News report from Issue No. 163, published on Dec. 4 2013)

Rakhmon continues reshuffle in Tajikistan

NOV. 30 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon continued his cabinet re-shuffle after winning an election last month by replacing the foreign minister, finance minister and transport minister. Media also reported that Mr Rakhmon had promoted his son to head the Customs Committee, a lucrative post in corruption-rife Tajikistan.

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(News report from Issue No. 163, published on Dec. 4 2013)

Uzbek president’s daughter grows her wealth

NOV. 29 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Lola Karimova-Tillayeva, younger daughter of Uzbek President Islam Karimov, and her husband have a combined wealth of 100m-200m Swiss francs ($110m-$220m), Swiss media reported. The report will be embarrassing to Mrs Karimova-Tillayeva who said in a recent interview that she was not particularly wealthy.

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(News report from Issue No. 163, published on Dec. 4 2013)

New accusations emerge on former Kazakh governor

DEC. 4 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s Prosecutor-General accused the former governor of the Atyrau region, Bergei Ryskaliyev, of having links to radical Islamic groups. Mr Ryskaliyev has been on the run for over a year. He is also accused of stealing $460m.

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(News report from Issue No. 164, published on Dec. 11 2013)

Uzbek authorities keep pressure on president’s daughter

NOV. 29 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — The authorities in Uzbekistan continued to ramp up pressure on Gulanara Karimova, eldest daughter of Uzbek President Islam Karimov. On Nov. 27, the Central Bank withdrew an operating licence for Credit Standard Bank, which is linked to her. Later, police also closed down art and jewellery stores belong to Ms Karimova.

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(News report from Issue No. 163, published on Dec. 4 2013)

Former MP imprisoned in Azerbaijan

DEC. 2 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Completing the fall of the former high-flying politician Gular Akhmadova, a court in Baku sentenced her to three years in prison for corruption.

A video of Akhmadova organising a $1m bribe to arrange for Elshad Abdullayev, formerly the owner of a university in Azerbaijan, to win a parliamentary seat at an election in 2005 surfaced last year and handed her instant notoriety.

The case captivated ordinary Azerbaijanis as it gave them a rare inside glimpse of corruption by members of the political elite. Media dubbed the case “Gulargate”.

Corruption is rife in Azerbaijan, business and politics mix casually and bribes are exchanged regularly, but it is rare for a case to play out so publicly.

Ahkmadova entered parliament in 2000 and held her seat until the ruling New Azerbaijan Party expelled her because of the corruption scandal last year. She was known as a stalwart party loyalist and, clearly, was able to arrange for wealthy people to win parliamentary seats in return for a bribe.

It’s unclear how many times previously, Akhmadova had sold parliamentary seats but it is clear something went badly wrong with this deal. Mr Abdullayev, the professor/businessman, didn’t end up with the seat and instead had the licence to his university revoked. He is now living in exile in France from where he published videos of his negotiations with Akhmadova, presumably as revenge.

And Akhmadova has form. She’s also hated by Azerbaijan’s marginalised opposition groups.

In March 2013, the authorities sentenced Avaz Zeynally, editor of an independent newspaper to nine years in prison for extortion, charges international groups said were false and politically motivated.

His accuser was Akhmadova.

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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 163, published on Dec. 4 2013)

Uzbekistan tightens banking rules

NOV. 25 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Uzbek authorities have tightened rules on private banking and money wiring. As of Nov. 25, Uzbek banks are now required to establish the identity of citizens exchanging $4,000, a tenth of the previously allowed amount.

Also, the new rules reduce to a total of $17,000 in three consecutive months the maximum amount people can wire without being considered as suspicious.

The authorities have said new regulations are part of efforts to combat terrorism financing and money laundering.

The timing, though, appears pertinent. Gulnara Karimova, the embattled eldest daughter of Uzbek President Islam Karimov, recently touched upon the money laundering issues on her Twitter page.

She said the Tashkent-based Asia Alliance Bank, established in August 2009, holds all of Uzbekistan’s assets and that this bank was set up specifically to launder money.

It’s important to note, though, that no formal charges have ever been levied at Asia Alliance Bank.

Ms Karimova, though, must tread carefully on money laundering. The French authorities currently have an ongoing case against her.

(News report from Issue No. 163, published on Dec. 4 2013)

Analysts assess power struggle in Uzbekistan

NOV. 27 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — The fall from favour of Gulnara Karimova, eldest daughter of Uzbek President Islam Karimov, continued.

Ms Karimova closed her charity the Forum for Culture and Art of Uzbekistan a few days after financial police started investigating it for irregularities and then posted a twitter tirade against her mother.

Commentators and analysts around the world have been trying to decipher what Ms Karimova’s woes mean. Below is a round-up of their opinions:

Alexei Malashenko, an analyst at the Carnegie Center in Moscow, said: “Such treatment for Gulnara is hardly possible without being sanctioned by Islam Karimov. There could be two possibilities here. First, the actions of the oldest daughter have placed Karimov’s regime in jeopardy and he has made a decision to rein her in. Secondly, Gulnara has presidential aspirations in light of her father’s old age.”

The Uzbek language BBC quoted Kamoliddin Rabbimov, an Uzbek political scientist, who said that Ms Karimova attempts to bolster her position had ended in disaster. He said: “President Karimov was personally angry with her and ordered the closure of Gulnara Karimova’s media outlets, her Twitter account and other online webpages.”

An unnamed Western official told the New York Times: “Gulnara is probably the person Karimov loves most because she looks like him and is very smart but he is capable of turning on his daughter. He is not the only one on Earth that fits in that category, but he is certainly in that category.”

Alex Nice, an analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit, said that rival businessmen had grown weary of Ms Karimova. He told the Guardian: “Karimova’s business interests and ambition grew too large; they started to encroach on the interests of other powerful players and at some point they decided to clip her wings.”

(News report from Issue No. 162, published on Nov. 27 2013)