APRIL 29 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Armenian parliament adopted a new electoral code, after weeks of debate in parliament (April 29). The new code, which will be used for the next parliamentary elections in 2017, is a mixed proportional-majoritarian system. Critics said the amendments failed to make the code robust and fraud-proof.
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(News report from Issue No. 279, published on May 6 2016)
MAY 3 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajikistan’s Central Election Commission approved President Emomali Rakhmon’s daughter, Ozoda Rakhmon, as a parliamentary candidate. Ms Rakhmon is currently head of the Presidential Administration and will run for a seat in the upper house in a May 29 by-election. Democracy advocates have accused Tajikistan of nepotism in selecting public officials.
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(News report from Issue No. 279, published on May 6 2016)
MAY 4 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Canadian miner Centerra Gold, owner of the Kumtor gold mine in Kyrgyzstan, once again said that it had not broken any rules in 2013 when it made a dividend payment . It was responding to a raid by police on the Kumtor office in Bishkek. Police were apparently sent to the Kumtor office specifically to search for any evidence of financial crime. Kyrgyzstan wants to increase its stake in Kumtor.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 279, published on May 6 2016)
APRIL 29 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan’s ministry of defence said it will not hold its usual military parade in Astana to celebrate Victory Day on May 9, the anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945. The ministry said parades should only be organised for round anniversaries. Last year, Kazakhstan held its largest-ever parade for the 70th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory in World War II. Observers said the decision not to hold a parade is linked to budget constraints.
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(News report from Issue No. 279, published on May 6 2016)
MAY 3 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) -DUSHANBE– Regional officials in Tajikistan are imposing strict regulations on the appearance of youngsters they allow to meet President Emomali Rakhmon when he visits, media reported, exposing what critics say are heavily stage-managed processes designed to flatter the Tajik leader.
According to reports, Shahnoz Niyozova, a student from the northern town of Mastchoh was barred from meeting Mr Rakhmon when he visited for Navruz celebrations in March because she was not sufficiently tall or Aryan in appearance.
A leaked official letter from the town’s administration gave a rare insight into local administrations’ think.
“Those who wish to speak before the Leader of Nation must have beautiful Aryan appearance, be tall, and have sonorous diction,” it said.
Local officials generally handpick the most beautiful and eloquent youths to meet Mr Rakhmon. They recite poems or thank him for bringing peace to Tajikistan.
Most ordinary Tajiks regard these meetings, which are shown on national television, as a waste of time.
In Dushanbe, Firdavs, 28, told a Bulletin correspondent that it was hot air.
“No one really talks about stuff that matter, like economic and political issues,” he said. “From all the flatteries and poems, you would think that we do not have any problems.”
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 279, published on May 6 2016)
MAY 3 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Georgian government said it would issue ID cards free-of-charge between May 26 and June 26, in an effort to prepare voters for a parliamentary election in October. Georgia’s electronic ID cards generally cost 30 lari ($13.6). The government is pushing for voters to have the correct identification documents to showcase its transparent electoral environment.
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(News report from Issue No. 279, published on May 6 2016)
MAY 5 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Five months before a parliamentary election, Georgian MP Giorgi Vashadze quit the opposition United National Movement (UNM) party because of what he described as its “closed” leadership style.
Mr Vashadze said he planned to set up his own political party in a move that may draw some support away from the UNM in what is expected to be a tight election battle with the ruling Georgian Dream coalition in October.
“People waited for new initiatives from the UNM, but this has been in vain,” Mr Vashadze told local media.
The UNM had excluded Mr Vashadze from its top ten list of candidates for the election in October. His former colleagues in the UNM accused him of being self-interested.
“Vashadze’s ambition was to be in the top ten of the party list. This was voted down. Quitting the party because of that reason is completely irresponsible,” Sergo Ratiani, MP and UNM’s secretary general, said.
Even so the row will hurt the UNM which is trying to position itself as a government in waiting ahead of the election. It lost power to the Georgian coalition in an election in 2012, having governed Georgia for eight years.
In late April, a poll sponsored by the local branch of the US-funded International Republican Institute showed just how close the election is likely to be. It said that the Georgian Dream party was still the most popular party with support at around
19%. The UNM came in second with 18%, but the surprise was the 12% support for for the Georgian Development Foundation, a movement founded by opera singer Paata Burchuladze.
Around 25% of the people polled, though, said they were either undecided on who they would for or wouldn’t vote at all, setting the scene for what analysts have said will be a close, hard-fought, election.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 279, published on May 6 2016)
MAY 5 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov completed a visit to Saudi Arabia, where he performed the Hajj to Medina and Mecca. In Saudi Arabia, Mr Berdymukhamedov spoke to the head of Islamic Development Bank, Ahmad Mohamed Ali Al-Madani, about potential investments in Turkmenistan’s infrastructure projects.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 279, published on May 6 2016)
APRIL 28 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Toronto-listed miner Centerra Gold said that Kyrgyz police have raided the Bishkek offices of its wholly owned Kumtor Gold Company, reigniting a vicious row that has involved the miner and the government. For years, Centerra and the government have rowed about ownership of the Kumtor gold mine. Kumtor accounts for around 7% of Kyrgyzstan’s GDP and is the country’s largest industrial asset.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 278, published on April 29 2016)
APRIL 22 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The US named Gulnara Karimova, the eldest daughter of Uzbekistan’s President Islam Karimov, as the beneficiary of bribes worth $550m taken between 2007 and 2013 from telecoms companies wanting access to the Uzbek market.
This was the first time that Ms Karimova, 43, has been named in connection with the corruption case since news of the deals became public three years ago.
It’s also a reminder of just how tightly President Karimov and his family ran Uzbekistan, seemingly viewing it as their personal fiefdom, and how telecoms companies, from Sweden’s TeliaSonera to US-listed VimpelCom, had to bribe their way into the market of 30m people.
TeliaSonera rebranded as Telia Company earlier this month. Both Telia and VimpelCom are the subject of investigations in the corruption cases. Telia is also trying to sell off its subsidiaries in Central Asia and the South Caucasus.
A Bloomberg News report from New York said that prosecutors had named Ms Karimova after previous requests to recover cash, which they said had been laundered, were ignored.
“Prosecutors made the request in a letter to a Manhattan federal court judge on Thursday (April 21), saying Karimova and the group failed to respond to a civil forfeiture complaint against three bank accounts,” Bloomberg reported.
Ms Karimova had previously only been referred to, rather obliquely, as: “Government Official A, a close relative of a high-ranking Uzbek government official.”
Being named in the reports will bring further international notoriety on Ms Karimova.
She had once been spoken of as a future leader of Uzbekistan, a label she appeared to wear lightly while she produced pop videos, hosted fashion shows and concocted her own perfume range.
Now Ms Karimova has disappeared from public sight, having been placed under house arrest in Tashkent two years ago.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 278, published on April 29 2016)