Tag Archives: law

Kyrgyzstan considers language test

JUNE 23 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan’s National Migration Service said it is considering setting up a Kyrgyz language proficiency rule for foreign workers in the country, a move that is effectively aimed at reducing the number of Chinese foreign workers in the country. According to official sources, Chinese workers represent the vast majority of foreign workers in Kyrgyzstan.

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(News report from Issue No. 286, published on June 24 2016)

Georgia MPs allow PM to stand in parliamentary vote

TBILISI, JUNE 22 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgian MPs voted to modify the election code to allow the PM to run for parliamentary elections without having to resign, a major blow to the opposition’s calls for separation of powers.

The bill, which included other technicalities, such as free airtime for parties, was approved with a 79-1 majority.

The defenders of the bill said that it is constitutionally illogical to be left without a government during an election campaign, or to have to form an interim government, if the PM was forced to resign to run for MP.

“To have to form a new government, which could change completely within two months, just before a parliamentary election is not appropriate for the stability of a con- constitutional system,” Vakhtang Khmaladze, MP for the Georgian Dream, said as he presented the bill.

Georgia’s President Giorgi Margvelashvili will have to sign the bill before it enters into force.

The Georgian Dream coalition, although showing cracks as the election campaign builds up, voted en masse to back the proposal, which will allow PM Giorgi Kvirikashvili to run for MP without having to resign.

On Oct. 8, Georgia will vote to elect a new Parliament. The opposing factions are already gearing up to what analysts have said will be a heated political campaign, fought between two deeply opposed sides.

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(News report from Issue No. 286, published on June 24 2016)

Kyrgyz MPs pass media bill

BISHKEK, JUNE 22 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kyrgyzstan’s parliament passed the first reading of a law that will restrict foreign funding of TV channels, a move its proponents have said is vital to protect media integrity but its detractors have said limits freedom.

The bill, which will have to be passed two more times, cuts the share of foreign financing for mass media outlets down to 35% and prohibits any foreign parties from establishing TV channels in Kyrgyzstan.

Media reported that the bill had been passed by 79 votes to 30.

Medet Tiulegenov, a political studies expert, said that the bill may have been pushed through by MPs to feed off popular mistrust of foreigners and boost their profile.

“By promoting a law against foreign investments in local media, MPs are trying to listen to that part of the population, which blames foreigners for problems here,” he said. “There are many MPs, who are not well-known among the population yet, but would like to get attention and popularity.”

This is the second major stand-off in Kyrgyzstan this year between groups of conservative, nationalist MPs and rights campaigners. Earlier this year, at the final reading, parliament rejected a bill that would have banned NGOs from directly receiving foreign funding.

Critics of the bill have said that its main aim was to close down the local office of the US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

Begaim Usenova, a Kyrgyz media expert, said that this law is another attempt to restrict people’s freedom. “It is incorrect to say that foreign funded media sources are a threat to the state, the bill’s initiators could not prove that there has ever been such a case,” she said.

And the bill appears to have already been watered down after protests by a few dozen people in front of parliament. Restrictions on foreign funding of media were reduced to just TV, rather than including print and radio too.

Still, the bill does carry a degree of popular support in Kyrgyzstan.

Yulia, 33, a Bishkek resident, said: “This is a good law, as every foreigner has its own interests, whereas we have to care about our security.”

And Dauren, 30, another Bishkek resident, said: “I am happy that there are more Kyrgyz patriots in our parliament than western lobbyists.”

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(News report from Issue No. 286, published on June 24 2016)

Armenians criticise tax revamp

JUNE 22 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Political and institutional figures have harshly criticised a new tax code that parliament approved last week during the first reading of the bill. Mans Tandilyan, a high-ranking member of the Lusavor Hayastan party, said the new code will negatively affect small and medium businesses. Tigran Jrbashyan, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Armenia, warned that, if passed, the law would send Armenia into a recession. The new tax law, approved on June 15, will increase excise taxes on fuel, tobacco and alcohol and increase income tax.

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(News report from Issue No. 286, published on June 24 2016)

ECHR says Georgian prosecutors abused their power

JUNE 10 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The European Court of Human Rights said in a ruling that Georgian prosecutors abused their power during the pre-trial detention of Georgia’s ex-interior minister Vano Merabishvili in an effort to extract information regarding the unrelated trial against former President Mikhail Saakashvili. Merabishvili was arrested in May 2013 on charges of vote fraud and embezzlement of party funds. He said the charges were politically motivated.

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(News report from Issue No. 285, published on June 17 2016)

Tajikistan tightens advertising ban

JUNE 15 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajik authorities have said they would fine shop-owners in Dushanbe for violating a law that bans outdoor advertising, theAsia Plus news agency reported. The authorities claim that the law, in force since 2007, also applies to storefronts, not just billboards. Shop-owners will have to take down their signs or risk a fine up to 20,000 somoni ($2,500).

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(News report from Issue No. 285, published on June 17 2016)

EU and UN condemn Tajikistan on opposition crackdown

JUNE 3/7 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — The European Union and the United Nations both condemned the harsh sentencing of former top members of the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan last week. “The court proceedings were not transparent and violated the rights of the accused to a fair trial,” the EU statement said. “The harsh sentencing reflects the steady increase of restrictions on freedom of expression in Tajikistan,” said David Kaye, UN Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression.

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(News report from Issue No. 284, published on June 10 2016)

UN criticises Kazakh labour law

JUNE 8 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — The UN’s International Labour Organisation said that Kazakhstan has made little progress in implementing international standards in its labour legislation. In particular, the committee urged the government to amend the 2014 law on trade unions and the 2015 law on the chamber of entrepreneurs, which restrict workers’ freedom and independence.

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(News report from Issue No. 284, published on June 10 2016)

Georgian Parliament approves constitutional changes

JUNE 3 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Georgian Parliament voted to approve an earlier veto that President Giorgi Margvelashvili had imposed on a controversial bill designed to change rules and procedures for the country’s Constitutional Court. The previous week, Mr Margvelashvili had imposed a veto on the bill, after it received criticism from international observers.

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(News report from Issue No. 284, published on June 10 2016)

Kazakh court releases former mayor of Karaganda on parole

JUNE 9 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — A court in Kazakhstan released on parole Baurzhan Abdishev, the former akim (mayor) of Karaganda in central Kazakhstan. Abdishev was arrested in September 2014 on charges of abuse of power and participation in organised crime. Earlier in May, a Kazakh judge had proposed that Abdishev serve the remainder of his 5-year sentence in his house in Astana.

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(News report from Issue No. 284, published on June 10 2016)