Tag Archives: government

Sariyev quits as Kyrgyz PM to fight corruption allegations

APRIL 11 2016, BISHKEK (The Conway Bulletin) — Temir Sariyev quit as Kyrgyzstan’s PM, less than a year after taking the job, after he was accused of corruption over a roadbuilding contract.

Three days later parliament voted in Sooronbai Jeenbekov, considered a heavyweight politician from Osh and loyal to President Almazbek Atambayev, as the new PM.

Emil Juraev, a professor at the American University of Central Asia, said Mr Jeenbekov may have been handed the PM job because he is able to unify bickering north-south factions.

“The new PM is a figure that suits all interested parties,” he said. “He is less ambitious and autonomous, compared to Sariyev.”

Still, Mr Jeenbekov is Kyrgyzstan’s sixth PM since a new constitution that handed more power to parliament was imposed in October 2010, highlighting just how fractured the Kyrgyz political landscape is.

On the streets of Bishkek, the frustrations of ordinary Kyrgyz that another PM had lasted less than a year were evident. Kablanbek, 60, said that he was disappointed to see Mr Sariyev go already.

“He should have worked for at least two-three years. Quitting after one year in office was a terrible idea,” he said.

At the centre of the latest corruption allegation to hit Kyrgyz politics was a contract Mr Sariyev handed to a Chinese company last year.

Mr Sariyev has denied that there was any corruption involved. Giving a resignation speech at this final government meeting, he said that he was the victim of lies and intrigue.

“I have neither time nor intention to play such political games,” he said. But many people held a different view. They have become cynical of Kyrgyz politicians and high levels of corruption. Daniyer, a 25-year-old student, reflected the views of many when he said: “In such positions, everyone tries to seize the opportunity to rob the country.”

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(News report from Issue No. 276, published on April 15 2016)

Kyrgyz PMs

APRIL 15 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Sooronbai Jeenbekov became Kyrgyzstan’s sixth PM since constitutional changes in 2010 handed more power to parliament. This is a record that denotes both instability and strength. Instability because of the sheer number of men to hold the post and strength because the system has survived throughout this turbulence.

Last year, when Djoomart Otorbayev resigned, after a heated row over the Kumtor gold mine, analysts thought that Temir Sariyev may become the first Kyrgyz PM to last the five year lifespan of a parliament.

But Mr Sariyev proved them wrong thanks to a classic case of Central Asia corruption and elite spat.

Now it’s Mr Jeenbekov’s turn. He is a loyalist to President Almazbek Atambayev and an influential figure in Osh, the southern powerhouse of the country.

Together with his brother Asylbek, formerly the speaker of the Parliament, Mr Jeenbekov could garner enough power to establish a strong vertical in Kyrgyzstan’s power structure.

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(Editorial from Issue No. 276, published on April 15 2016)

Georgia charges transit fee

APRIL 8 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – After months of negotiations, Georgia and Russia’s Gazprom retained a deal that will give Georgia 10% of Gazprom’s gas throughput to Armenia. The deal was heralded by the Georgian side as a victory. They said that Gazprom had wanted Georgia to charge it a transit fee for hosting a pipeline to Armenia and then pay for its own gas.

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(News report from Issue No. 276, published on April 15 2016)

Editorial: Georgia’s government

APRIL 8 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – In the past few months, impatience has been the most common sentiment in Georgia’s political circles.

There was a change of PM at the end of last year, then the Republican Party announced it would run separately at the next election and now the once-loyal National Forum party withdrew from the government coalition.

But the most impatient move appears to have been played by President Giorgi Margvelashvili and PM Giorgi Kvirikashvili who announced the date for the autumn parliamentary elections for Oct. 8.

By convention, elections in Georgia are held in October, the government needs to give just two months of notice. Setting it up six months in advance was unnecessary. Unless, that is, the aim was to kick off electioneering early.

Voters and fellow coalition members are losing confidence in Georgian Dream. By setting the election date now, it might fancy it has more of a chance of persuading a sceptical public that it needs second term in power. It certainly has the deep pockets of Georgian billionaire, former PM and Georgian Dream financier to lean upon.

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(Editorial from Issue No. 275, published on April 8 2016)

Georgian Dream’s partner quits government coalition

APRIL 4 2016, TBILISI (The Conway Bulletin) — The National Forum, previously seen as one of the government’s most loyal junior partners, quit the Georgian Dream-led governing coalition, dealing a major blow to the coalition’s hopes of retaining a majority at a parliamentary election later this year.

The Georgian Dream coalition now has a thin majority in parliament, holding 82 seats out of a total of 150. The National Forum has six MPs. Its decision to quit government came only a few days after the Republican party, also part of the coalition government, said that it would campaign on a separate slate at the parliamentary election.

Korneli Kakachia, director of the local non-partisan think tank the Georgian Institute of Politics, said that recent government policies by the Georgian Dream party had irritated its junior partners.

“This is pretty damaging to the Georgian Dream, as the National Forum were very loyal partners. Their announcement will raise questions with the voters,” he said. “The other parties are still in the coalition, but their support for new laws is not assured. Especially not the recently proposed bill by Georgian Dream to allow the PM to stay in office and run for MP at the same time.”

Under the current legislation, the PM can’t run for election as an MP. The Georgian Dream, though, want to change this as they want current PM Giorgi Kvirikashvili to head their party list.

But splits in the coalition has impacted its popularity with voters. Luka, 32, leaned against his BMW taxi. “If they can’t even keep their coalition together, how can they rule a country?” he said.

Standing next to him, 58-year-old Giorgi nodded his head in agreement. “I voted for them in the last election, but I’m not sure I’ll give them my vote in October,” he said.

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(News report from Issue No. 275, published on April 8 2016)

Georgian election splits coalition

MARCH 30 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Republican Party, which is part of the government coalition with the ruling Georgian Dream party, said it will run independently at parliamentary elections scheduled for October. PM Giorgi Kvirikashvili said this does not mean that Republican Party deputies will now have to withdraw support for the coalition or that its ministers will have to leave the government.

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(News report from Issue No. 274, published on April 1 2016)

Kazakh Pres. sacks energy minister

MARCH 25 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev sacked former energy minister Vladimir Shkolnik immediately after a parliamentary election. This was part of a government reshuffle that switched several top-bureaucrats in government and local administrations. Mr Shkolnik, the highest-profile government official to be sacked, was replaced by power sector veteran Kanat Bozumbayev.

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(News report from Issue No. 274, published on April 1 2016)

Nur Otan drops Dariga Nazarbayeva as MP

MARCH 18 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – ALMATY — The results of the parliamentary elections may have been expected but there was a surprise lined up. A few days days after the vote the Nur Otan party dropped Dariga Nazarbayeva, eldest daughter of President Nursultan Nazarbayev, from its list of MPs (March 24).

The Conway Bulletin’s Central Asia newswire service (the Silk Road Intelligencer) broke the news on Thursday that Ms Nazarbayeva’s had been dropped by Nur Otan as an MP.

MP in 2012-14 and also held the post of deputy PM since last September, was in line to return to the lower house of Parliament and be nominated as speaker.

This would have granted her a powerful and respected position and also signalled that she was being lined up as a potential successor for her 75-year-old father as Kazakhstan’s second post-Soviet president.

There has been no explanation to the apparent change of plan but it set off various theories on the Kazakh presidential succession issue.

And last week, too, Ms Nazarbayeva’s son, 31-year-old Nurali Aliyev, quit as deputy mayor of Astana apparently to pursue business interests.

This effectively means that in one week, two key members of the president’s family have taken a step back from influential political positions.

One theory previously been put forward for Kazakhstan’s succession issue was that Ms Nazarbayeva would take over in the short term as president before making way for her son. That now appears off the agenda.

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(News report from Issue No. 273, published on March 25 2016)

Editorial: Kazakh Pres. daughter’s moves

MARCH 25 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Observers expected one major outcome from Kazakhstan’s parliamentary election. Dariga Nazarbayeva’s nomination as an MP and her ascendency to be parliament’s Speaker, an important constitutional role and a stepping stone to higher office. But it didn’t come through.

Has she fallen out with her father, the 75-year-old Pres. Nursultan Nazarbayev? Her son, Nurali Aliyev, resigned as deputy mayor of Astana earlier this month. Coincidences are rare in Kazakh politics.

Is she adopting a more low-key approach? This could be one way of dodging future tough austerity policies that the government will inevitably adopt to survive a worsening economic crisis.

Whatever the greater game plan is, one thing is for sure. Kazakhstan’s succession issue will once again dominate Kazakh politics.

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(Editorial from Issue No. 273, published on March 25 2016)

Kazakh ministries ban smart phones

MARCH 18 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Government ministries in Kazakhstan have banned smart phones from buildings to try and stop official documents being leaked. The ban, apparently, was to try and stop officials from photographing documents with their smart phone and then sending them on to people using WhatsApp. Kazakhstan has launched a number of drives over the past few years to try and professionalise its civil service.

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(News report from Issue No. 273, published on March 25 2016)