Tag Archives: election

Bishkek court closes opposition TV station

BISHKEK, AUG. 22 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Less than two months before what is shaping up to be an increasingly feisty and acrimonious presidential election, a court in Bishkek ordered the closure of the Sentyabr private TV channel that was broadly sympathetic with the opposition. The court banned Sentyabr for broadcasting film that it said was extremist. Specifically, it broadcast an interview with an ex-police chief in Osh in which he accused Pres. Almazbek Atambayev’s preferred successor, ex-PM Sooronbai Jeenbekov, of fuelling ethnic tension in the region in 2010.

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(News report from Issue No. 341, published on Aug. 27 2017)

Kyrgyzstan appoints new PM

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AUG. 25 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan’s parliament confirmed Sapar Isakov, previously President Almazbek Atambayev’s chief of staff, as the new PM (Aug. 25). His predecessor, Sooronbai Jeenbekov, resigned to run for president in an election set for Oct. 15. Mr Atambayev is barred by the Kyrgyz constitution from running for a second term in office. He has backed Mr Jeenbekov.

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(News report from Issue No. 341, published on Aug. 27 2017)

Kyrgyzstan imprisons opposition leader

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AUG. 2 2017 (The Bulletin) — A court in Bishkek gave opposition leader Sadyr Japarov, known for his outspoken fiery speeches, an 11-1/2 year prison sentence for taking a former regional governor hostage during a rally in October 2013. Zaparov is influential on the streets of Bishkek, as shown earlier this year when his arrest triggered a series of tense protests. Kyrgyzstan is voting in a presidential election in October. Japarov had said that he wanted to take part in the election. A second high-profile potential presidential candidate, Omurbek Tekebayev, is in detention waiting to be tried for various financial crimes.

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(News report from Issue No. 336, published on Aug. 5 2017)

Kyrgyz President promises smooth power transfer

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JULY 24 2017 (The Bulletin) — In a press conference lasting 3-1/2 hours, Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev once again pledged his support in a presidential election set for October for PM Sooronbay Dzheenbekov and said that whoever won, there would be a peaceful transfer or power. Mr Atambayev is banned from standing in the election after the end of his single 7-year term. The elections are considered a test of Kyrgyzstan’s democracy.

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(News report from Issue No. 337, published on July 27 2017)

Kaladze to contest Georgian capital mayor for GD

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TBILISI, JULY 1 2017 (The Bulletin) — The ruling Georgian Dream coalition chose energy minister Kakha Kaladze to be their candidate in an election for the mayor of Tbilisi set for October, a contest that is shaping up to be an early test of the government’s popularity.

Mr Kaladze is a former international football player who played for Georgia and Italian team AC Milan. His main opponent for the Tbilisi mayoral position also has a prominent public persona. Earlier in June, the United National Movement party (UNM) of former President Mikheil Saakasvhili said that it was going to put up Zaal Udumashvili, a well-known news reader for the opposition Rustavi-2 TV channel to be its candidate.

The UNM lost a parliamentary election heavily last year to the Georgian Dream. Analysts have said that without a victory, or at least a strong showing in the contest to win control of Tbilisi City Hall, the UNM could be slipping into irrelevance. Davit Narmania, a Georgian Dream candidate, won the Tbilisi mayoral election in 2014. The Tbilisi mayoral election is the most high-profile of several being held across Georgia’s municipalities in October.

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(News report from Issue No. 335, published on July 3 2017)

Georgian news anchor quits to run for mayor

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JUNE 24 2017 (The Bulletin) — The charismatic and well-known Georgian TV news reader Zaal Udumashvili said that he was going to run in an election to be the mayor of Tbilisi for the United National Movement party. Mr Udumashvili’s announcement will give the beleaguered party of former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili a boost. He had worked for Rustavi-2, a TV station that is the subject for a battle for control between its current UNM support- ing owners and a businessman with links to the ruling Georgian Dream coalition.

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(News report from Issue No. 334, published on June 26 2017)

Kyrgyz MPs curtail vote monitors

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BISHKEK, MAY 31 2017 (The Bulletin) — With less than five months to go before a presidential election Kyrgyzstan’s parliament voted to impose restrictions on election observers.

NGOs and democracy activists immediately criticised amendments to the election laws as authoritarian but its proponents said it was a necessary step to improve and streamline the voting process.

The row focused on the scrapping of two paragraphs from the election code which had stated that election monitors had the right to move around polling stations and flag up potential violations.

Dinara Oshurahunova, who works at the Kyrgyz NGO Coalition for Democracy and Civil Society said monitors needed to move around during voting to operate effectively.

“There are nearly 2,300 polling stations, and usually we are able to send 500 to 600 independent observers, and public observers,” she told The Bulletin’s Bishkek correspondent.

“They have to cover more than one station in a day.”

Western election monitors have often held up Kyrgyzstan as an example of democracy in former Soviet Central Asia, but supporters of the election law changes said monitors needed to be restricted because they were often funded by foreign governments and there was a risk they would influence elections.

Kyrgyz vote on Oct. 15 in a presidential election that promises to be a tightly fought affair. President Almazbek Atambayev is stepping down after a single term in office, as stipulated by the constitution. His Social Democratic Party has put up PM Sooronbay Jeenbekov to be its candidate. He will face at least two other former PMs in the vote.

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(News report from Issue No. 331, published on June 5 2017)

Kyrgyz PM to run for presidency

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BISHKEK, MAY 18 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — The ruling Social Democratic party picked current PM Sooronbai Jeenbekov to be its candidate in a presidential election in Kyrgyzstan later this year, a decision that an analyst said confirmed the government’s pro-Russia bent.

Parliament also voted to move forward the presidential election date to Oct. 15 from Nov. 19.

A Central Asian political analyst said that the appointment of Mr Jeenbekov as the Social Democrat’s candidate showed that the party was increasingly in hoc to the Kremlin.

“He’s considered soft on Russia,” the analyst said, asking not to be named. “The Social Democrats nearly appointed a pro-Western candidate but it looks like the Kremlin intervened and they have now gone for Russia’s man.”

Rumors prior to Mr Jeenbekov being given the candidature had suggested that President Almazbek Atambayev’s chief of staff, Sapar Issakov, would be the likely candidate. He is considered pro-Western.

Mr Atambayev is stepping down after a single term in office, as stipulated by the constitution.

His detractors, though have said that he may be lining himself up to become PM at an election scheduled for next year. The Kyrgyz constitution is being changed to shift power from the president to the PM’s office.

As the Social Democrats’ candidate, Mr Jeenbekov is now the front- runner to succeed Mr Atambayev.

But it’s likely to be a competitive and tightly-fought election, and not a foregone conclusion, in what is considered Central Asia’s most vibrant democracy. Former PMs Temir Sariyev and Omurbek Babanov have also said that they will compete in the election.

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(News report from Issue No. 329, published on May 20 2017)

Armenia’s Republican party wins the election

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YEREVAN, APRIL 8 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Republican Party of President Serzh Sargsyan was confirmed as the winner of a parliamentary election in Armenia on April 2.

Armenia’s Central Election Commission said the Republican party had won just under 50% of the vote (55 seats), the generally pro-government Tsarukyan Alliance won 27% of the vote (30 seats), the opposition Way Out Alliance nearly 8% (9 seats) and the pro-government Armenian Revolutionary Federation 6.6% (7 seats).

No other political bloc passed the 7% threshold to win seats or the 5% threshold needed to be breached by an individual political party in an election that was marked by alleged vote buying. There were no reports of the protests that had been expected.

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(News report from Issue No. 324, published on April 13 2017)

Republican Party easily wins Armenian parliamentary election

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YEREVAN, APRIL 2/3 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenia’s ruling Republican Party won a parliamentary election that will shape the country’s politics for years to come, although its opponents complained of vote- rigging and monitors said that there had been irregularities.

Victory for the Republican Party, though, didn’t trigger the outpouring of frustration and resentment that some had predicted and a Conway Bulletin correspondent in the capital said it was calmer now than in any previous election over the past few years. In 2008, protests dragged on until clashes between demonstrators and soldiers killed at least 11 people.

Much of the Republican Party support came from people unwilling to take a risk with the opposition.

“I had to vote for Republicans as I am a teacher which means I work for the state and I am paid from state and this is kind of a payback,” said a Yerevan-based teacher after voting.

Only four groups won enough votes to enter parliament which will wield more power after a change to the constitution that shifts power from the president to parliament.

President Serzh Sargsyan’s Republican Party won 49% of the vote and will hold 55 seats of the 105-seat parliament. The Tsarukyan alliance led by oligarch Gagik Tsarukyan, generally considered to be sympathetic to the government, won 27% of the vote and will have 30 MPs. For the opposition, the Yelk (Way Out) bloc won 7% of the vote and Armenia’s Revolutionary Foundation party won 6%.

The assessment of the OSCE’s election monitoring unit, ODHIR, though, was less than flattering.

The elections were “tainted by credible information about vote-buy- ing, and pressure on civil servants and employees of private companies,” it said in a report.

The Conway Bulletin spoke to one person happy to take money in exchange for their vote.

“I wasn’t going to go at all, but my neighbour learned that they were buying votes,” said a 32-year-old man in Yerevan. “They paid 10,000 dram ($20.66) per person and explained how to vote.”

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(News report from Issue No. 323, published on April 6 2017)