Tag Archives: politics

Kazakh Halyk Bank completes KazKom takeover

ALMATY, JULY 12 2017 (The Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s Halyk Bank, owned by the daughter of Kazakh Pres. Nursultan Nazarbayev and her husband, completed the takeover of Kazkommertsbank, a deal officials say is vital to protect the banking sector but critics say cements the First Family’s power.

The complex deal involved the state writing off $7.5b of Kazkommertsbank and Halyk Bank bad debt. Halyk Bank officially paid only 185b tenge ($560m) for its rival. The combined market share of the merged bank will be around 37%, roughly four times its next competitor.

While opponents of Mr Nazarbayev and his son-in-law, Timur Kulibayev, have said that the long-planned deal gives the elite too much influence, its proponents have said that it is essential.

Kazakhstan’s banking sector is under increased pressure from nonperforming loans which have been mounting over the past few years, since an oil price collapse in 2014 triggered a downturn and a halving of the value of the tenge.

The Central Bank has said that it has prepared a $1.5b fund to bail out its banks. Some banks in Kazakhstan have already folded.

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(News report from Issue No. 336, published on July 16 2017)

Georgian parliamentary speaker sets up political party

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JUNE 16 2017 (The Bulletin) — Piling more pressure onto United National Movement party (UNM), former Georgian parliamentary speaker Davit Usupashvili said he will set up a centrist political movement to contest local elections in October. Mr Usupashvili was Parliamentary Speaker between 2012 and 2016 under the ruling Georgian Dream coalition government but it is the UNM party of former president Mikheil Saakashvili who will be most concerned by the prospect of a new party.

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(News report from Issue No. 335, published on July 3 2017)

Kaladze to contest Georgian capital mayor for GD

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TBILISI, JULY 1 2017 (The Bulletin) — The ruling Georgian Dream coalition chose energy minister Kakha Kaladze to be their candidate in an election for the mayor of Tbilisi set for October, a contest that is shaping up to be an early test of the government’s popularity.

Mr Kaladze is a former international football player who played for Georgia and Italian team AC Milan. His main opponent for the Tbilisi mayoral position also has a prominent public persona. Earlier in June, the United National Movement party (UNM) of former President Mikheil Saakasvhili said that it was going to put up Zaal Udumashvili, a well-known news reader for the opposition Rustavi-2 TV channel to be its candidate.

The UNM lost a parliamentary election heavily last year to the Georgian Dream. Analysts have said that without a victory, or at least a strong showing in the contest to win control of Tbilisi City Hall, the UNM could be slipping into irrelevance. Davit Narmania, a Georgian Dream candidate, won the Tbilisi mayoral election in 2014. The Tbilisi mayoral election is the most high-profile of several being held across Georgia’s municipalities in October.

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(News report from Issue No. 335, published on July 3 2017)

Majoritarian to be kept in Georgia

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JUNE 27 2017 (The Bulletin) — The ruling Georgian Dream’s decision to postpone introducing proportional representation in elections until 2024, pushed back from 2020, is a damaging precedent for the country’s democracy, 32 civil society organisations wrote in an open letter. The groups that have signed the letter include the influential Young Lawyers Association and Transparency International. The Georgian Dream signalled last week that it was going to brush aside pressure and not immediately ditch the majoritarian system during constitutional changes.

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(News report from Issue No. 335, published on July 3 2017)

Venice Commission approves of Georgia constitution reform

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TBILISI, JUNE 21 2017 (The Bulletin) — Adding to the debate around Georgia’s constitutional reforms, the Venice Commission, which acts as the Council of Europe’s constitution watchdog, described proposed changes as another step positive step towards a parliamentary democracy.

The proposed constitutional changes are controversial because they strip the president of power and hand it to parliament. Parliament is dominated by the Georgian Dream coalition, increasingly opposed to President Giorgi Margvelashvili who was elected under the Georgian Dream ticket but has rowed with his former colleagues.

The Venice Commission’s opinion should dampen an issue which has become increasingly acrimonious.

The constitutional changes also shift the voting system to proportional representation and away from the proportional/majoritarian system considered opaque, another move the Venice Commission praised.

It did say, though, that maintaining a 5% threshold for entering parliament and allowing political blocs to contest elections were detrimental to Georgian democracy.

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(News report from Issue No. 334, published on June 26 2017)

Armenian Prime Minister wants to stay on

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JUNE 21 2017 (The Bulletin) — Armenian PM Karen Karapetyan has hinted that he wants to continue in his job after 2018, the panarmenia.net website reported, when constitutional changes shift power to the PM from the President. Controversy has surrounded the changes as their opponents have alleged that President Serzh Sargsyan, in power since 2008, wants to become PM when his second and final term in office ends in order to secure power. If Mr Karapetyan wants to remain PM it may, potentially, set up a fight for power.

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(News report from Issue No. 334, published on June 26 2017)

Georgian news anchor quits to run for mayor

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JUNE 24 2017 (The Bulletin) — The charismatic and well-known Georgian TV news reader Zaal Udumashvili said that he was going to run in an election to be the mayor of Tbilisi for the United National Movement party. Mr Udumashvili’s announcement will give the beleaguered party of former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili a boost. He had worked for Rustavi-2, a TV station that is the subject for a battle for control between its current UNM support- ing owners and a businessman with links to the ruling Georgian Dream coalition.

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(News report from Issue No. 334, published on June 26 2017)

Kazakh airport to be named after Nazarbaev

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JUNE 21 2017 (The Bulletin) — Coinciding with the opening of a new international terminal with a capacity to process around 8.5m travellers a year, Astana airport was renamed after President Nursultan Nazarbayev. State-owned media announced the name change. Mr Nazarbayev has been accused of building a personality cult. A statue of Mr Nazarbayev sitting on a throne-like chair dominates a park in Almaty, the second city, and law- makers have also considered renaming Astana after him.

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(News report from Issue No. 334, published on June 26 2017)

Comment: Authority figures and democracy

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EDINBURGH, JUNE 12 2017 (The Bulletin) — This past week, politics in Britain have been overshadowed by the election meltdown and loss of authority of the British PM, Theresa May. She went from having a 20 point lead in opinion polls only two months ago to a single digit lead over Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, on election day. She won, but was returned a much diminished figure.

This is a stark contrast to the strongmen that rule Central Asia, where the democratic touch is so light. That doesn’t mean, though, that there isn’t plenty of political intrigue to enjoy and saviour in the region.

And this week has given us the story of how Shavkat Mirziyoyev has undone one of his key rivals for power, former economy minister Rustam Azimov. Once a potential Second President of Uzbekistan, he now finds himself heading up an entity called the Export-Import Bank. A story of power-plays and, possibly, betrayal.

There has been an apparent growth in grassroots movements in Uzbekistan. Our new correspondent reports from Tashkent on what has been described as the biggest protest in the country for 12 years. It’s great reporting on a very important story.

In Georgia and Azerbaijan the case of the abducted journalist continues to cause the authorities discomfort, as does the reminder that Georgia’s Pankisi Gorge is still an IS recruitment area.

On the business front, we report on China’s first foray into Kazakhstan’s banking sector and on olive oil production in Georgia.

Uzbekistan’s President Mirziyoyev sacks rival Azimov as deputy PM

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TASHKENT, JUNE 6 2017 (The Bulletin) — Uzbek president Shavkat Mirziyoyev sacked deputy PM Rustam Azimov from his government, showing his ruthlessness in undermining potential rivals .

Mr Azimov had at one time been talked of as a potential successor for Islam Karimov, who ruled Uzbekistan since independence from the Soviet Union until his death in September 2016. His ambitions were undone, however, by the rise of Mr Mirziyoyev who had been PM under Karimov. Mr Azimov had been economy minister but was downgraded to foreign investment minister in December.

Local media reported, quoting government sources, that Azimov would now head the Export-Import Insurance company, a major demotion. He was to be replaced by as deputy PM by the relatively unknown deputy finance minister Jamshid Kuchkarov.

Immediately after the death of Karimov, Azimov had been considered one of the three most powerful people in Uzbekistan, alongside Mr Mirziyoyev and security chief Rustam Inoyatov. His demotion marks a victory for Mr Mirziyoyev who was always wary of his rival.

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(News report from Issue No. 332, published on June 12 2017)