Tag Archives: election

Uzbekistan sets presidential election

DEC. 26 2014, (The Conway Bulletin) — The Uzbek Central Election Commission set a presidential election for March 29 2015. It is thought that the incumbent president, Islam Karimov, will campaign in the election. He has been in power since the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union, although his personal authority has waned.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 213, published on Jan. 7

2015)

CIS mission to observe Uzbek election

DEC. 8 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) said it had dispatched its mission to observe parliamentary elections in Uzbekistan later this month. The OSCE, Europe’s election and democracy watchdog, has already said it is going to send a limited mission because it expects the vote to be fixed.

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(News report from Issue No. 212, published on Dec. 10 2014)

Turkmenistan held municipal elections

NOV. 26 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmenistan held municipal elections on Nov. 23 which, according to a blog post on the US-fund Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty website, failed to generate much interest. The blog reported that although official turnout was 92.76%, it was difficult to find people who had voted.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 211, published on Dec. 3 2014)

OSCE snubs Uzbek election

DEC. 2 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The OSCE said it does not expect the Uzbek parliamentary election on Dec. 21 to be either free or fair and that it will be sending only a small group to the vote.

In total the OSCE will send 20 observers to cover the election in Uzbekistan, a country with 30m people and 135 electoral districts.

The Uzbek government, though, had a slightly different way of interpreting the OSCE’s perceived snub. It said that the OSCE’s limited observation mission was because there had been large improvements in the process.

“There is a unanimous opinion that no problems are expected,” the Uzbek government said in a statement. The OSCE has never judged an election in post-Soviet Uzbekistan to be either free or fair.

Of course, in a way, the Uzbek government is correct. There are no problems expected in terms of the result.

The Uzbek government made sure that only four pro- president political parties were allowed to run for the 135 seats. The Uzbek Central Election Commission rejected the unofficial Erk opposition party’s registration application.

The importance of these parliamentary elections is not that they will, or even could, trigger a change in how Uzbekistan is run, instead they are an indicator ahead of presidential elections in 2015.

Signals from Uzbekistan have suggested that President Islam Karimov’s position has been weakened by a prolonged power struggle over the past year. If any strong contenders emerge out of the parliamentary elections, even from the pro-presidential parties, it could make for a more dynamic presidential vote.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 211, published on Dec. 3 2014)

OSCE to limit team at Uzbek election

NOV. 20 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The OSCE, Europe’s election monitoring watchdog, said it will send a limited observation mission to Uzbekistan’s parliamentary elections on Dec. 21. The OSCE has never judged an election in Uzbekistan to be free and fair and has said it is pointless sending a larger team to the vote.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 210, published on Nov. 26 2014)

Georgia ministers resign

NOV. 5 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The fallout from the sacking of Georgian defence minister Irakli Alasania rumbled on. As predicted, Georgia’s foreign minister, Maia Panjikidze, and minister for European integration, Aleksi Petriashvili, both also resigned.

They belong to the same party as Mr Alasania, the Free Democrats. The party also withdrew its support for the Georgian Dream coalition, wiping out its majority in parliament.

Mr Alasania was officially sacked for insubordination after he criticised the arrest of ministry of defence officials for alleged corruption.

These sackings weaken the government of PM Irakli Garibashvili. They have also created a potentially dangerous political enemy in Mr Alasania. He was one of the most charismatic ministers and could drum up support to challenge the government.

For now, though, Mr Garibashvili and his patron, former PM and leader of the Georgian Dream coalition Bidzina Ivanishvili, were quick to deride Mr Alasania as an ambitious adventurer.

The coalition that Mr Ivanishvili created and that Mr Garibashvili leads had been built for one main purpose — to topple Mikheil Saakashvili from power. With that ambition achieved in parliamentary election in 2012 and presidential elections in 2013 it was always likely that the coalition was going to unravel. This unravelling is a natural re-balancing of Georgian politics.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 208, published on Nov.12 2014)

Opposition unite in Kyrgyzstan

OCT. 20 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan’s main opposition parties, Respublika and Ata Zhurt, will join forces to form a coalition ahead of parliamentary elections in 2015, media reported. If it holds together, the Respublika- Ata Zhurt coalition could be powerful as it would bridge the country’s north-south divide.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 205, published on Oct. 22 2014)

Tajik security forces train in central Dushanbe

OCT. 6 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajik security forces donned full riot gear for a training exercise in central Dushanbe aimed at dealing with large anti-government crowds.The exercise was designed as a show of force against any anti-government movement that may be planning protests ahead of a parliamentary election in February.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 203, published on Oct. 8 2014)

Kulov desires to rename Kyrgyzstan

SEPT. 12 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Perhaps wanting an eye-catching policy to launch his campaign for next year’s parliamentary election, former Kyrgyz PM Feliks Kulov, a nationalist, has called for a referendum on renaming Kyrgyzstan as Kyrgyz El Republic, media reported. Mr Kulov said the suffix stan is an alien Persian word for country.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 200, published on Sept.17 2014)

Uzbek election campaign starts

SEPT. 15 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Campaigning officially began in Uzbekistan for an election to its 150-seat parliament set for Dec. 21, media reported.The election is largely a formality as all the parties are pro- presidential. Uzbekistan has been described as one of the most repressive and least democratic countries in the world.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 200, published on Sept.17 2014)