Tag Archives: politics

Aliyev reshuffles ministries in Azerbaijan

OCT. 22 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Ilham Aliyev replaced his long serving defence minister, General Safar Abiyev, in a cabinet re-shuffle at the start of his third term as Azerbaijan’s president.

It’s a brave move by Mr Aliyev.

Gen Abiyev, 64, is one of most powerful figures in Azerbaijan and had been considered a vital component in building the Aliyev political dynasty. Gen Abiyev has been Azerbaijan’s defence minister since February 1995 and had served under Mr Aliyev’s father, Heydar Aliyev, who was president between 1993 and 2003.

He has built up a large power-base during his 18 years as a minister and overseen a military budget that has soared alongside the country’s economy.

But opposition figures have accused Gen Abiyev of massive corruption and blamed him for the deaths of recruits and the general poor morale among the military. They’ll celebrate the apparent downfall of Gen Abiyev.

Mr Aliyev appointed Zakir Hasanov as defence minister, previously in charge of the interior ministry forces. It’s still unclear what Gen Abiyev’s new role is.

ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 157, published on Oct. 23 2013)

Azerbaijan may privatise post

OCT. 17 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan may consider privatising its postal service, Azerpost, information minister, Ali Abasov, told journalists. Mr Abasov said that Azerpost’s performance had been poorer than expected. There are roughly 1,500 post offices in Azerbaijan providing a variety of services.

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(News report from Issue No. 157, published on Oct. 23 2013)

Aliyev is Azerbaijan’s president again

OCT. 19 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Ilham Aliyev was sworn in as Azerbaijan’s president for his third five-year term despite protests from opposition groups that the Oct. 9 election was flawed. The ceremony took place in the Azerbaijani parliament after the constitutional court confirmed Mr Aliyev’s election victory with 85% of the vote.

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(News report from Issue No. 157, published on Oct. 23 2013)

Accusations arise ahead of election in Georgia

OCT. 21 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — On the eve of a presidential election, Georgia’s PM Bidzina Ivanishvili has called outgoing President Mikheil Saakashvili a “political corpse” and said that he could be prosecuted for alleged abuses during his 10 years in office, media reported. Georgia holds a presidential election on Oct. 27.

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(News report from Issue No. 157, published on Oct. 23 2013)

Uzbek president’s daughter responds to criticism

OCT. 17 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Gulnara Karimova, eldest daughter of Uzbek President Islam Karimov, responded to criticism from her sister by accusing her of embezzling cash and having links with sorcerers, media reported. Lola Karimova-Tillayeva had told the BBC in an interview last month that Gulnara had little chance of ever becoming Uzbek president.

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(News report from Issue No. 157, published on Oct. 23 2013)

Azerbaijan’s president replaces defence minister

OCT. 22 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Three days after being sworn in for his third term as Azerbaijan’s president, Ilham Aliyev. replaced his long-serving defence minister General Safar Abiyev. Gen Abiyev had been defence minister since 1995. Opposition figures have accused him of corruption.

ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 157, published on Oct. 23 2013)

Uzbek police arrests president’s cousin

OCT. 17 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbek media have reported that police have arrested Akbarali Abdullayev, a nephew of Uzbek president Islam Karimov. Analysts had talked of Mr Abdullayev as a potential successor to Mr Karimov and his arrest may indicate that a power struggle is ongoing. Reports did not specify why police arrested Mr Abdullayev.

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(News report from Issue No. 157, published on Oct. 23 2013)

Opposition candidate barred from election in Tajikistan

OCT. 11 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — The main opposition candidate in the Tajik presidential election next month, rights activist Oynihol Bobonazarova, said she had been barred from standing. She blamed the Tajik Central Election Committee for disqualifying her because she had failed to collect enough signatures to support her candidature.

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(News report from Issue No. 156, published on Oct. 16 2013)

Aliyev wins presidential election in Azerbaijan

OCT. 16 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — In the end, it pretty much went to script. Ilham Aliyev, Azerbaijan’s 51-year-old leader, won his third presidential election on Oct. 9 with 85 percent of the vote; Western observer said the vote was flawed; the opposition called on their supporters to protest.

None of this is remarkable because elections in Azerbaijan have tended to follow this script.

But, there were still some important characteristics worth considering.

For a start, Mr Aliyev didn’t take part in debates with other candidates and didn’t really bother to campaign.

Then there was the, apparent, early release of the election results on an official iPad app.

The Azerbaijani authorities said the app, which appeared to leak results the day before voting even began, was simply a poorly timed test.

The main opposition group also ran a stuttering campaign. They switched candidates at the last minute because their preferred candidate failed to qualify for the vote.

Perhaps most importantly, though, the OSCE, Europe’s main media freedom and election watchdog said the vote was flawed. It said there had been numerous accounts of voter intimidation and irregularities. Then again, Azerbaijan has never held an election considered free and fair.

(News report from Issue No. 156, published on Oct. 16 2013)

Kazakhstan appoints new head of Stats Agency

OCT. 7 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — In a high-profile corruption case, police charged the former head of Kazakhstan’s Statistics Agency, Anar Meshimbayeva, with stealing 758m tenge ($4.9m) from a budget allocated for a national census in 2009. Ms Meshimbayeva fled Kazakhstan but was arrested in Moscow earlier this year and deported back to Kazakhstan.

(News report from Issue No. 155, published on Oct. 9 2013)