MARCH 27 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — >> What is the International Crises Group and why is it important to discuss its report on the first 100 days of Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s rule in Uzbekistan?
>> The International Crisis Group, or ICG, is a think tank based in Brussels. It draws most of its funding from Western governments and reports on some of the world’s long-running problem areas. It is influential. One of the areas it reports on is Central Asia and this report, on Mirziyoyev’s first 100 days as Uzbek president, is one of the first major efforts to evaluate his influence over the region’s most populous country.
>>How does the ICG view Mirziyoyev?
>>Essentially, positive with a strong dose of caution. Like others, the ICG welcomed moves by Mirziyoyev to improve relations with neighbours and has also said there are signs he wants to change the economy which has operated under a pseudo-Soviet centrally controlled system since the 1992 break up of the USSR. But the report’s authors also sounded a serious, and wise, note of caution. They pointed out that Mirziyoyev had been PM under Islam Karimov when the current system, designed to protect the elite, was devised.
>> Got it. What, according to ICG, are the most serious issues facing Mirziyoyev?
>> To start with, the ICG said that Mirziyoyev needs to shore up support within the ranks of the Uzbek elite. Without this support he will fail to update the system. It pointed to a government reshuffle at the start of the year which had improved things but said that he still needed to patch up his differences with Rustam Azimov, an ex-finance minister, and Rustam Inoyatov, the head of the National Security Service.
>> What about ordinary Uzbeks? Does ICG have any insight on how they view their new president?
>> Only a smattering of anecdotal evidence that suggests that Mirziyoyev is going about things the right way and that he has started out with a degree of popularity. ICG quoted a 55-year-old teacher in the Fergana Valley saying: “Mirziyoyev is a person who knows Uzbekistan’s real picture, he can make things better.”
>> And to sum up?
>> The ICG broadly welcomed Mirziyoyev’s first 100 days in office, although it also said that more is needed. It did urge foreign powers to work more closely with Uzbekistan under Mirziyoyev to ensure reforms that have been hinted at come through and don’t become early-day regime hubris.
ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 322, published on March 27 2017)
