Tag Archives: appointments

Kyrgyz PM sacks two ministers

SEPT. 18 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyz PM Djoomart Otorbayev sacked two cabinet ministers, minister of culture Kamila Taliyeva and interior minister Abdyldy Suranchiyev, his first major reshuffle since taking over the job in March.

The sackings are a nod to public dissatisfaction with the government, with reports growing that many ministers are hanging on to their jobs by a thread.

But they may be less about improving the efficiency of government and more about preparations for next year’s parliamentary elections. With a winter energy crisis expected to put pressure on both President Almazbek Atambayev, affiliated to the Social Democratic Party of Kyrgyzstan, and Mr Otorbayev, loosely associated with the socialist Ata-Meken party, dropping a few unpopular officials makes political sense.

Kyrgyz media reported that both the sacked ministers where disliked, making them easy scapegoats for failings across government but personnel changes are unlikely to spare the government public frustration if the winters are as cold as expected, especially with Kyrgyzstan’s power production struggling.

Ulugbek Erkeshev, a Kyrgyz political journalist, said he has seen it all before.

“At a time when they need to be working together as a government around the clock they are passing portfolios around,” he said.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 201, published on Sept. 24 2014)

Tajik senior officials fall from grace

FEB. 4 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — It’s been a bad week for senior officials in Tajikistan. Media reported that a court in Dushanbe had sent the daughter-in-law of a senior Tajik diplomat to prison for 12-1/2 years for drug smuggling and that President Emomali Rakhmon had sacked the head of the Tajik railway company after his son was involved in a deadly crash.

ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 170, published on Feb. 5 2014)

Kazakhstan sacks high-profile officials

JAN. 15 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev sacked the head of the government’s budgetary committee Aslan Musin. Mr Musin used to be head of the presidential administration, one of the most powerful jobs in the country.

ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 168, published on Jan. 22 2014)

Kazakhstan sacks high-level bureaucrats

JAN. 15 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev sacked Aslan Musin as head of the government’s budget committee, completing the fall from grace of the man once dubbed the Grey Cardinal of Kazakhstan.

A few days later Mr Nazarbayev wielded his axe again, this time taking out Marat Tazhin, Secretary of State, and Ghalym Orazbaqov, the Kazakh ambassador in Moscow.

These were serious power plays by Mr Nazarbayev. He may have been looking to bolster his supporters as he decides how to deal with the thorny succession issue.

The risk for Mr Nazarbayev, Kazakhstan and investors, is that he may also have created powerful enemies.

Mr Musin’s decline has been fast. In 2012 he was the head of Mr Nazarbayev’s presidential staff and one of the most influential people in the country. Analysts discussed him as a potential presidential successor, building his power-base in the west of the country.

In September 2012, that changed when Mr Nazarbayev replaced Mr Musin with Karim Massimov, the PM. Mr Musin, who had been the head of the presidential administration for four years, was sent to head the government’s budgetary committee, a relative backwater.

Now Mr Musin has dropped out of government entirely. He was replaced by Dzhanburchin Kozy-Korpesh, who worked under Nurtai Abykayev, head of the National Security Council and an adversary of Mr Musin.

The sacking of Mr Tazhin also demonstrates the power of Mr Massimov. Mr Nazarbayev delegated the responsibilities of the Secretary of State temporarily to Mr Massimov.

Neither Mr Tazhin nor Mr Orazbaqov had strong links with Mr Musin but what comes next, and who replaces them permanently, is important.

ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 168, published on Jan. 22 2014)

Berdymukhamedov reshuffles Turkmenistan’s government

JAN. 11 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — An autocrat and an eccentric, Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov started 2014 in flamboyant manner.

First, on Jan. 6, a video surfaced on the internet of Mr Berdymukhamedov behind a DJ deck playing his favourite pop songs to an adoring crowd. He relishes the attention, adding backing vocals and a clutch of confident jiving hand movements.

A few days later Mr Berdymukhamedov got back to the more serious business of governance by sacking his gas and banking chiefs.

Since becoming president in December 2006, Mr Berdymukhamedov has earned a reputation as a shrewd single-minded and flamboyant showman.

Turkmenistan has grown rich over the past few years as Mr Berdymukhamedov expands its client list for gas. This makes the sacking of Kakageldy Abdullayev, previously head of Turkmengaz, the more significant development. He had been in the job for a year and was officially sacked for not diversifying the company fast enough. Mr Abdullayev’s replacement is the little-known Charymuhammed Hommadov. Mr Berdymukhamedov also sacked the head of the Central Bank Tuvakmammet Japarov without specifying why.

ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 167, published on Jan. 15 2014)

Kyrgyz mufti resigns after scandal

JAN. 7 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — A secretly filmed sex video involving Kyrgyz Grand Mufti Rakhmatulla-Hajji Egemberdiev has rocked Kyrgyzstan’s establishment.

The video of Mr Egemberdiev having sex with a younger woman appeared on the internet on New Year’s Eve. His opponents accused him of adultery and organised street demonstrations, common in Kyrgyzstan, to force him to resign.

After a week of resistance, Mr Egemberdiev handed in his resignation. He blamed his opponents for setting up a trap and called on the government to intervene.

The whole tawdry episode means that Kyrgyzstan now has to look for its seventh religious leader in four years — a destabilising effect that even a more secure country would have problems dealing with. Mr Egemberdiev’s predecessor was sacked a year ago because of tax evasion issues.

It also throws up the issue of polygamy in Kyrgyzstan. This is technically banned but is still relatively commonplace in Kyrgyzstan and is accepted in the Sufi form of Islam.

Mr Egemberdiev’s defence was that the woman in the video was one of his additional wives.

The destabilising effect of losing another religious leader, the political in-fighting and open debate about polygamy means it’s been a messy start to the year for Kyrgyzstan.

ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 166, published on Jan. 8 2014)

Uzbekistan nominates new interior minister

DEC. 13 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbek President Islam Karimov sacked interior minister Bakhodyr Matlyubov, 62, and replaced him with his deputy, General-Major Adkham Akhmedbayev.

Gen-Maj Akhmedbayev becomes only the third interior minister in Uzbekistan’s 22 year history as an independent country.

His promotion, though, is more interesting than merely as an historical statistic.

In Uzbekistan, the interior minister is an important position, and Mr Karimov’s decision to promote Gen-Maj Akhmedbayev has an intriguing sub-plot. Gen-Maj Akhmedbayev is a member of the so-called Tashkent Clan which is competing for influence with the Samarkand Clan.

The most powerful member of the Tashkent Clan is Rustam Inoyatov, head of the Uzbek security service.

After Gen-Maj Akhmedbayev’s promotion, commentators and analysts immediately said that they detected the hand of the increasingly powerful Mr Inoyatov behind the scenes. Gen-Maj Akhmedbayev is a former member of the Uzbek security services. His control of the interior ministry now extends the power and influence of the Uzbek security services.

It’s also important for the apparent power struggle unfolding in the background. Mr Inoyatov is considered the main protagonist of the fall from grace of Gulnara Karimova, Mr Karimov’s eldest daughter and a potential successor.

Various scenarios could continue to play out in Uzbekistan ahead of a presidential election in 2015. All, though, it seems include a stronger Tashkent clan influence over the country and a weaker president.

(News report from Issue No. 165, published on Dec. 18 2013)

Kyrgyz government sacks mayor

DEC. 5 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Kyrgyz authorities sacked the powerful mayor of Osh, Melis Myrzakmatov, a few days after he attended a major anti-government rally.

It’s a bold, but also risky, move by the government.

The 44-year-old Mr Myrzakmatov is a firebrand nationalist, known for ignoring the central government in Bishkek. He’d held power in Osh since January 2009 and has been a headache for the national government ever since the ouster of former President Kurmanbek Bakiyev in 2010.

Since then the southern power groups have jostled for influence with their northern adversaries. In June 2010 this came to a head with inter-ethnic fighting between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks. Some analysts blamed local regional chiefs, including Mr Myrzakmatov, for stirring the trouble.

On Dec. 3, a few days after clashes with police, a reported 3,000 demonstrators gathered in Osh to call for the release of popular southern politician, Akhmatbek Keldibekov. Police had arrested Mr Keldibekov, a former Speaker of the parliament, in November on corruption charges.

By deposing Mr Myrzakmatov, who attended the rally, the government probably hopes to cut a major agitator out of the equation and take the momentum out of the protests. Mr Myrzakmatov, though, is a wily opponent and has already said that he will return to front-line politics.

(News report from Issue No. 164, published on Dec. 11 2013)

Uztransgaz’s head sacked

NOV. 20 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Uzbek government fired the head of its gas pipeline monopoly Uztransgaz, Tulyagan Jurayev, less than a month after the head of Uzbekneftegas, the state energy company, was also sacked. It’s unclear why Mr Jurayev was sacked. Analysts said it may be part of a power struggle in Uzbekistan.

(News report from Issue No. 161, published on Nov. 20 2013)

Karimov sacks deputy at Uzbekneftegaz

NOV. 7 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Fuel shortages and a power struggle in Uzbekistan appear to have claimed another major scalp in Shavkat Majidov, the long-serving first deputy chief of Uzbekneftegaz. Although no official information has been made available, media reported Uzbek President Islam Karimov sacked Mr Majidov over continued fuel supply problems.

Mr Majidov was a powerful man, in charge of oil-related affairs in Uzbekistan and closely linked with Gulnara Karimova, Mr Karimov’s elder daughter.

Ms Karimova had once been considered a potential presidential successor but more recently she has come under pressure from rivals. Prosecutors in Europe and Uzbekistan have opened investigations into her business affairs; her supporters are being targeted.

Mr Majidov’s removal, according to a media report, is linked to an investigation into shortages at the Ferghana Oil Refinery. Ms Karimova’s ally Akbarali Abdullayev had controlled the refinery until police arrested him in October. This arrest, it appears, left Mr Majidov vulnerable. It has also allowed outsiders another glimpse of the interwoven world of politics and business in Uzbekistan.

Sultan Alisher, a member of parliament loyal to Mr Karimov, and director of the Shurtangaz chemical plant, has taken over as deputy head of Uzbekneftegaz. He’s a safe pair of hands that Mr Karimov can rely on as the power game in Uzbekistan unfolds.

(News report from Issue No. 160, published on Nov. 13 2013)