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Georgian Dream defeats UNM in parliamentary election

TBILISI, OCT. 10 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — The ruling Georgian Dream coalition government easily won a parliamentary election in Georgia with nearly 50% of the vote, almost double the votes won by the United National Movement party (UNM) of former president Mikheil Saakashvili.

The result confirms Bidzina Ivanishvili, the billionaire bankroller of the Georgian Dream, as the most influential man in the country.

“Instead of a government with confused members, Georgia genuinely has the government that is devoted to people,” he said after victory was declared.

It also, importantly, puts Georgia on an increasingly conservative and pro-Russia trajectory.

The Georgian Dream has allied itself to the Georgian Orthodox Church a staunchly conservative, and influential, institution that abhors homosexuality.

The conservative direction of the new Georgian parliament was bolstered by the entry of the staunchly nationalist and religious Alliance of Patriots for the first time. They cleared the 5% barrier in the proportional representation element of the vote to secure seats in the 150-seat parliament.

The Georgian Dream coalition, now officially headed by PM Giorgi Kvirikashvili , won its first election four years ago, beating the UNM. This year’s election had been dubbed a grudge re-match between the two parties with Mr Ivanishvili and Mr Saakashvili playing Machiavellian roles from the sidelines.

From Ukraine, where he is governor of the Odessa region, Mr Saakashvili said the election had been fixed. “This election was fabricated through many forms of manipulation to get a final result which would bring absolute victory to Georgian Dream,” he said.

But ODIHR, the OSCE’s main election watchdog, said the election had been largely free and fair.

“Strongly competitive and well- run, yesterday’s elections offered an opportunity for voters to make informed choices about their options in a pluralistic but polarized media environment,” Ignacio Sanchez Amor, the leader of the short-term OSCE observer mission, said.

The Central Election Commission said that turnout was around 51%.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 300, published on Oct. 14 2016)

Gazprombank sells its Armenian subsidiary

OCT. 11 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Ardshinbank, one of Armenia’s top- three banks, bought Areximbank from Gazprombank, the financial arm of Russia’s giant gas company, for an undisclosed amount.

Areximbank was Armenia’s fifth- largest bank, according to local media and the buy-out will push Ardshinbank towards becoming the largest bank in Armenia. Its assets will grow by 20% to around 540b dram ($1.1b) after the deal. Karen Safaryan, a Russian billionaire businessman with Armenian roots, founded Ardshinbank in 2003 and remains its beneficial owner.

Analysts said that US sanctions against Gazprom and its subsidiaries and Armenian Central Bank requirements for commercial banks could be behind the buy-out.

In 2014, the Central Bank ordered banks to increase their minimum capital requirements by six times to 30b dram ($63m) by January 2017. The rule has prompted a round of mergers.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 300, published on Oct. 14 2016)

Lukashenko mourns Uzbek President

SEPT. 7 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko flew into Samarkand to visit the grave of Uzbek President Islam Karimov, who died last month. Acting President and PM Shavkat Mirziyoyev welcomed Mr Lukashenko and accompanied him to Karimov’s grave.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 300, published on Oct. 14 2016)

UNM’s poor showing in Georgia’s election

TBILISI, OCT. 14 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgian Dream supporters, wearing their trademark blue shirts, celebrated long into the night on Sunday after it became clear that they had won a crushing victory over their rivals, the United National Movement party (UNM).

Make no mistake, the rivalry between the Georgian Dream and the UNM runs deep. Both sides accuse the other of fraud, violence and of trying to destabilise the country and, up until the first votes were cast on Oct. 8, it was unclear which party would win the parliamentary election. The Georgian Dream ruling coalition is bankrolled by billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili. The UNM is the party of Mikheil Saakashvili, the former Georgian president who is now the governor of the Odessa region in Ukraine.

Now, it’s clear that the Georgian Dream has scored a major victory which could, potentially, end the UNM’s push for a comeback for good. The Central Election Commission said that the Georgian Dream had polled nearly 49% of the votes in the proportional representation element of the election, against 27% for the UNM. The Georgian Dream vote was down only slightly from 2012, when it won power for the first time, despite the tough economic times but the UNM vote crashed from 40% in 2012.

And it was clear from conversations on the streets of Tbilisi just why the Georgian Dream had won. Essentially the UNM, and Mr Saakashvili, is remembered for poisoning relations with Russia, triggering a 2008 war and torturing prison inmates — an episode highlighted by a TV drama series, paid for by Mr Ivanishvili, which was broadcast shortly before the election.

“People value peace more than economic development,” Lika, a 30-year- old translator, said. “The UNM did a lot for Georgia, but the moment they became authoritarian, they lost our trust.”

These sentiments were shared by Giorgi, a 50-year-old war veteran working as a taxi driver in Tbilisi.

“I voted for the Georgian Dream because there is no alternative. We can’t let the nationalists slip back into power. They were violating laws, torturing, even killing political opponents. I don’t want that. Georgia needs the rule of law first,” he said.

And perhaps, too, Mr Saakashvili also damaged the UNM’s chances. Voters complained that it wasn’t clear what his role was and whether voting for the UNM would mean his return.

Now, after the UNM’s defeat, they won’t find out.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 300, published on Oct. 14 2016)

Tajik court sentences opposition members

OCT. 7 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – A Tajik court sentenced Buzurgmehr Yorov and Nuriddin Makhamov, two lawyers of the banned Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT), to 23 and 21 years in prison for fraud and inciting ethnic hatred. Last year, the IRPT was accused of plotting a coup. Human rights lobby groups said the charges against Yorov and Makhamov were trumped up.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 300, published on Oct. 14 2016)

Tajik government proposes special forces’ rights

OCT. 10 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Tajik government proposed new amendments to the law on national security forces that will allow them to break into homes without a warrant. The amendments, said to be aimed at strengthening security in the country, need approval from parliament before entering into force. Critics have said that these checks will be used against the opposition.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 300, published on Oct. 14 2016)

Kazakh oil service company loses money

OCT. 11 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Oil service companies owned by Kazakhstan’s Kazmunaigas posted a 12% drop in revenues over the past two years, mostly due to sustained low oil prices, Kazmunaigas chairman Sauat Mynbayev said. Mr Mynbayev said that this trend should have triggered layoffs, but under government mandate the companies will not cut jobs. Loss- making Ozenmunaigas will maintain 9,500 workers on its payroll.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 300, published on Oct. 14 2016)

Kazakh President establishes peace prize

OCT. 10 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Unable to win the Nobel Peace Prize that he has always reportedly considered himself worthy of for voluntarily surrendering the nuclear weapons that he inherited after the fall of the Soviet Union, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev has instead set up his own $1m prize for world peace and nuclear disarmament. He gave the inaugural award to King Abdullah of Jordan for taking in 1.5m Syrian refugees and for his work in making the Middle East a nuclear-free area.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 300, published on Oct. 14 2016)

Kazakhstan to extend visa-free travel

OCT. 11 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan will expand its visa-free regime next year, in an effort to boost tourism, the ministry of investment and development said. The new regulations will expand visa-free travel beyond the current 20 developed economies, to include all OECD countries from January 2017.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 300, published on Oct. 14 2016)

Trade between Georgia and S. Arabia rises

OCT. 11 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Trade turnover between Georgia and Saudi Arabia has increased, the two countries’ diplomatic corps said at a meeting in London. Saudi investment into Georgia reached $100m in the first nine months of the year and total trade turnover has doubled. Tourism is also on the rise, with visits from Saudi Arabia to Georgia likely to triple.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 300, published on Oct. 14 2016)