Tag Archives: government

Mixed messages air over Kazakh President’s daughter promotion

SEPT. 14 2015, ALMATY (The Conway Bulletin) — Dariga Nazarbayeva, eldest daughter of Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev, officially quit as a member of parliament to begin her new job as a deputy PM.

Analysts have said that her promotion to government on Sept. 11 may have been the first stage in her journey to take over from her 75-year- old father when retires.

Certainly in Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest city and its financial centre, people interpreted her promotion as the start of dynastic succession.

David Smirnov the owner of a small trading business, said that he thought Ms Nazarbayeva would be a good fit for the top job.

“How could such a man have a bad daughter?” he asked, reflecting the popular support for President Nazarbayev. “So much money has been invested into her. She will be better than any other corrupt official, for sure.”

There has no official commentary from the Presidential Palace regarding Ms Nazarbayeva’s promotion.

Nessibeli Kozhakhmetova, a student, held a similar point of view to Mr Smirnov, the business owner.

“She knows from childhood how her father have worked,” she said. “She is better than someone whom we are not familiar with. She is trustworthy and the most reliable of the options.”

But, importantly, while most people told a Bulletin correspondent that they supported Ms Nazarbayeva’s promotion, there were some divergent opinions.

Aleksey, an advertising manager, was walking down a main street. He stopped and said quietly: “She might be a President but there is no trust in either the Presidency or Dariga.”

And KIMEP economics student Kamila Mukushova said Kazakhstan needed a break from the past and the Nazarbayev family’s grip on power.

“If she will be the President, then everything remains the same in the country,” she said. “We will still be dependent on Russia. We need a more open-minded leader.”

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 248, published on Sept. 18 2015)

Kazakh state company director resigns

SEPT. 8 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Abat Nurseitov resigned as general director of KMG EP, the London-listed unit of Kazakhstan’s state oil and gas company. Mr Nurseitov had been general director since January 2013. Dastan Abdulgafarov, the CFO, was appointed interim CEO.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 247, published on Sept. 11 2015)

Georgia approves Tbilisi electricity price rise

SEPT. 3 2015, TBILISI (The Conway Bulletin) — Following earlier electricity price rises in Georgia’s regions, the state regulators approved a similar price increase in the capital.

For the Georgian Dream, the ruling coalition, the price rise means they have barely been able to fulfil one of their promises from the 2012 parliamentary election – to cut the price of electricity and to keep it low.

But, as Akaki Tsomaia, economics professor at the University of Georgia explained, the plunging value of the lari had forced the regulators to agree to the price rise.

“Georgia is experiencing a 45% depreciation of its currency against the US dollar. Electricity and gas providers in Georgia have no other way than to increase the price of these services. Otherwise we will definitely have a major electricity shortage,” he told the Bulletin.

Still, this assessment, which is widely shared, didn’t stop the opposition UNM party blaming the coalition.

“The absence of professionalism led us to this point,” UNM’s deputy chairperson Nika Melia told TV broadcaster Rustavi-2.

Electricity prices have triggered protests in the region, most notably in Armenia where thousands protested earlier this year and forced the government to waive price rises.

In Georgia which is known for its street level politics, however, the population seems to have accepted the rise more quietly although some people did expect protests shortly.

Vladimir, an IT specialist walking along Tbilisi’s central promenade said: “People will probably start next month once they get bills.”

Irakli, 37, who was waiting at a bus stop, agreed but he said that politics, was the key driver of social unrest.

“We’ve taken to the streets so much in the recent two decades, but for other reasons,” he said. “But it all accumulates and only needs one non- social spark to explode.”

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 247, published on Sept. 11 2015)

Tajik opposition ditch meeting

SEPT. 5 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT), the country’s main official opposition, has indefinitely postponed a congress it had planned for Sept. 15, media reported. The IRPT linked the decision to attacks in Dushanbe last week. Earlier this month the authorities also said the IRPT was illegal.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 247, published on Sept. 11 2015)

Comment: Dariga Nazarbayeva becomes deputy PM

SEPT. 11 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The signs have been there for all to see for the past two or three years. Now there can be no denying it. Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev appears to want to set his daughter, Dariga Nazarbayeva, up as his successor.

Her rehabilitation into the mainstream of Kazakh politics has been carefully managed. First she won back a seat in the 2012 parliamentary elections, then in 2014 she appeared next to her father after his State-of-the-Nation speech and then she started to take over increasingly important roles, including deputy speaker of parliament.

More recently, Mr Nazarbayev has spoken about the Asian model of democracy. This was, it now appears, code for managed dynastic succession.

Kazakhstan needs stability at the moment. It is moving through difficult economic territory and it needs strong, talented, leadership.

But it also needs choice.

Ms Nazarbayeva, who has sung opera at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, certainly has the charisma, authority and the most famous surname in Kazakhstan, but is she the right person to lead Kazakhstan in the post-Nursultan era?

Infamously in 2013, at a parliamentary committee meeting, she described disabled children as freaks birthed by teenagers having sex too young. She sounded out of touch with ordinary people and drew heavy criticism.

There are other candidates, but Ms Nazarbayeva does now appear to be in pole position. What is certain is that the succession issue in Kazakhstan is, once again, at the forefront of the country’s politics.

By James Kilner, Editor, The Conway Bulletin

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 247, published on Sept. 11 2015)

Comment: Internal issues trigger violence in Tajikistan

SEPT. 11 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Last week Tajikistan experienced some of its bloodiest fighting in recent years. Although the regime has been quick to label the rebels as “terrorists” sponsored by outside forces, the conflict is in fact the product of internal factors.

Tajikistan remains a mafia state. Different factions compete over the resources it has to offer. Government posts are not merely daytime jobs; they offer elites access to power and wealth.

With such a contested political economy, conflicts boil to the surface intermittently.

After the country’s civil war ended in 1997, some opposition warlords were incorporated into the regime.

Since signing the power-sharing deal, Emomali Rakhmon’s government has reneged on its promises, imprisoning, killing and exiling many of its former foes.

Not all of them have laid down their arms without a fight. Last Friday’s armed uprising is just the last in a series of conflicts involving former opposition strongmen.

Until recently, Major-General Abdukhalim Nazarzoda was one of the last remaining opposition commanders in government.

A skilful player of the political game, he rose to the rank of deputy defence minister in 2014. At the same time, he amassed a fortune through control of a bread factory, a poultry farm and other assets.

But last week his position came under threat.

According to a statement released by his supporters on September 6, the regime plotted to remove Nazarzoda for refusing to agree with the recent ban on the government’s main opponents, the Islamic Renaissance Party.

Instead of going quietly, he decided to go out fighting. And fight he did, leaving over forty people dead.

Dushanbe seems to have the situation under control for now. Despite sustaining heavy casualties, the security services have now neutralised most of Nazarzoda’s supporters, killing the general himself on September 11.

With the move against Nazarzoda, the regime has sent a clear warning signal to other commanders of dubious loyalty.

Not all of them will step aside without a fight.

Over the next few years Tajikistan’s fractious post-conflict state will sporadically erupt into violence.

By Edward Lemon, PhD candidate at Exeter University focusing on Tajikistan

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 247, published on Sept. 11 2015)

Uzbek president daughter touted as successor

SEPT. 7 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbek media reported that Usman Khaknasarov, described as a local political analyst with good access to the ruling elite, had said that Uzbekistan’s President Islam Karimov may be lining up his youngest daughter, Lola, to succeed him. The 77-year-old Mr Karimov has yet to announce a successor. His eldest daughter, Gulnara, has lost her power and influence.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 247, published on Sept. 11 2015)

28% of Kyrgyz electorate fail to register for vote

SEPT. 8 2015, BISHKEK (The Conway Bulletin) — More than a quarter of Kyrgyz citizens eligible to vote in next month’s parliamentary election have not submitted their biometric data to the authorities ahead of a Sept. 19 deadline, the State Registration Service said.

Under new election rules, if people fail to submit their personal biometric data before the deadline their right to vote will be withdrawn, drawing criticism from human rights defenders who have said this is a breach of civil liberties. They also said government agencies were not competent enough to protect the data.

The State Registration Service said it still hadn’t receive data from 1,072,080 people of the 3,777,500 electorate. The data people need to submit includes an electronic signature, photos and fingerprints.

In central Bishkek, a 22-year-old man explained why he had not to submit his data.

“Our people love freedom. I don’t want to be controlled by the state,” he said, without giving his name,

The risk for the government is that if a quarter of the electorate chooses not to register for the Oct. 4 vote, it will fail to deliver a genuine mandate.

Rita Karasartova, head of Institute of Public Analysis, a Kyrgyz NGO, told local media she thought many people were unaware that the deadline to submit biometric data was two weeks ahead of the election itself.

“Citizens will start submitting biometrics at the eve of the elections because they will not be aware of this deadline,” she said, warning this may trigger complaints about voters’

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 247, published on Sept. 11 2015)

Centerra Gold pays tax to Kyrgyz government

SEPT. 9 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Toronto-listed Centerra Gold, owner of the Kumtor gold mine in east Kyrgyzstan, has paid 4.3 trillion som (around $65m) in taxes to the Kyrgyz government in the first 8 months of 2015, the ministry of finance said. In 2014, Centerra accounted for 7.4% of Kyrgyzstan’s GDP.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 247, published on Sept. 11 2015)

Kazakh police arrests Kostanai governor

SEPT. 8 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Police arrested the governor of the Kostanai region in north Kazakhstan, Akhmetbek Akhmetzhanov, for corruption. Kazakh officials have arrested a handful of senior regional officials over the past year or so for corruption.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 247, published on Sept. 11 2015)