NOV. 9 2010 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenian PM Tigran Sargsyan sacked 2 deputy health ministers for corruption. Mr Sargsyan has previously said corruption is widespread in Armenia’s health, agriculture, education and finance ministries. In Transparency International’s 2010 Corruption Perception Index Armenia was placed 123 out of 178, just above Azerbaijan but behind Georgia.
ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 15, published on Nov. 15 2010)
NOV. 7 2010 (The Conway Bulletin) – Political parties loyal to the president won all the seats in a parliamentary election in Azerbaijan. The main opposition party
complained of election fraud. International observers said little democratic progress had been made and that a lack of media freedom had made the election unfair.
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(News report from Issue No. 14, published on Nov. 8 2010)
NOV. 1 2010 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Kyrgyz central election committee gave the official results of the Oct. 10 election, triggering negotiations to form a government between the five parties that won seats in parliament. The results shut out the Butun party which says it has been cheated out of seats and has pledged to demonstrate.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 13, published on Nov. 1 2010)
OCT. 28 2010 (The Conway Bulletin) — Underdeveloped banking systems, a high rate of non-performing loans and inflexible exchange rates are potential brakes on economic recovery in Central Asia and the south Caucasus, the IMF said.
With their reliance on neighbouring Russia and global commodity prices, the global financial downturn in 2009 was tough for the economies of Central Asia and the south Caucasus. This year, with Russia and commodity prices recovering and the impact of domestic fiscal stimulus taking hold, the IMF predicts steady economic growth throughout the regions, other than for Kyrgyzstan.
Remittances from workers in Russia, so important for the poorer Central Asian and Caucasus countries, grew by 26% in the first half of 2010 compared to the same period in 2009.
The IMF said that inflation was generally under control at around 8%, although in Uzbekistan it was nearer 11%. For the IMF, the regions’ banking sectors are a concern. In Kazakhstan, the IMF pointed out, non-performing loans total nearly 26% of all loans.
IMF’s GDP % growth figures (2010 and 2011 are predictions):
Armenia +13.7 (2007); +6.9 (2008); -14.2 (2009); +4.0 (2010); +4.6 (2011)
Azerbaijan +25.0 (2007); +10.8 (2008); +9.3 (2009); +4.3 (2010); +1.8 (2011)
Georgia +12.3 (2007); +2.3 (2008); -3.9 (2009); +5.5 (2010); +4.0 (2011)
Kazakhstan +8.9 (2007); +3.2 (2008); +1.2 (2009); +5.4 (2010); +5.1 (2011)
Kyrgyzstan +8.5 (2007); +8.4 (2008); +2.3 (2009); -3.5 (2010); +7.1 (2011)
Tajikistan +7.8 (2007); +7.9 (2008); +3.4 (2009); +5.5 (2010); +5.0 (2011)
Turkmenistan +11.6 (2007); +10.5 (2008); +6.1 (2009); +9.4 (2010); +11.5 (2011)
Uzbekistan +9.5 (2007); +9.0 (2008); +8.1 (2009); +8.0 (2010); +7.0 (2011)
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 13, published on Nov. 1 2010)
OCT. 20 2010 (The Conway Bulletin) — Thousands of supporters of a Kyrgyz party that narrowly missed out on representation in parliament after an election protested
throughout the week in Bishkek. The Butun Kyrgyzstan party, a nationalist grouping, says it has been robbed and has pledged to hold street rallies until the result is changed.
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(News report from Issue No. 12, published on Oct. 21 2010)
OCT. 15 2010 (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgia’s parliament gave its final approval to constitutional changes which shift power away from the president to the PM. The changes will come into affect when President Mikheil Saakashvili leaves office in 2013 after his second and final term. Opponents have called the changes undemocratic.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 12, published on Oct. 21 2010)
OCT. 10 2010 (The Conway Bulletin) — An election in Kyrgyzstan designed to create Central Asia’s first parliamentary democracy failed to produce a majority winner. The five parties that won seats will now build a coalition. The Ata-Zhurt party, associated with deposed former President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, won the most seats with 28 in the 120-seat parliament.
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(News report from Issue No. 11, published on Oct. 14 2010)
OCT. 1 2010 (The Conway Bulletin) — On a trip to Tbilisi, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said NATO remained committed to granting Georgia full membership of the alliance. The day before a landmine in Afghanistan killed four Georgian soldiers, including a colonel. Georgia has about 925 soldiers in Afghanistan.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 10, published on Oct. 7 2010)
OCT. 7 2010 (The Conway Bulletin) — After a revolution in April, Kyrgyzstan voted in a referendum on June 27 for a new Constitution that aims to shift the balance of power from the president to Parliament. Below are the main points from the constitution that should shape Kyrgyzstan’s government following a parliamentary election on Oct. 10, 2010:
– Parliament was enlarged to 120 seats from 90 seats. Each parliament is elected for five years under proportional representation. No party can hold more than 65 seats.
– A coalition has to form a government within 15 days of an election or the president can intervene.
– Political parties are banned from being formed on ethnic or religious grounds. The election code already stated women have to make up at least 30% of parties’ candidate lists.
– Members of the military, police and judiciary are not allowed to join a political party.
– The PM has control over the budget and fiscal policy.
– The president appoints key posts such as the Prosecutor-General, the head of the Central Bank, the head of the Supreme Court and the heads of the defence and security agencies but Parliament has varying degrees of oversight.
– The president signs legislation. He or she has the right to send proposed laws back to parliament but does not have a veto.
– The president is limited to a single 6 year term.
– The Supreme Court and not the Constitutional Court will interpret the Constitution.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 10, published on Oct. 7 2010)
OCT. 1 2010 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kyrgyzstan is tense but stable ahead of an election on Oct. 10 intended to create Central Asia’s first parliamentary democracy, the OSCE said. Analysts said it was unlikely that any party would win a majority in the vote which an estimated 3,300 candidates from 29 different parties are contesting.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 10, published on Oct. 7 2010)