Tag Archives: politics

First Armenian leader gets ill

JAN. 18 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Levon Ter-Petrosyan, the first leader of post-Soviet Armenia, has been flown to the United States for emergency treatment on what local media have described as a cancer. Mr Ter-Petrosyan, 71, was president of Armenia between 1991 and 1998. He has since become a vocal opponent of the government and was blamed for whipping up street protests in 2008 that culminated in police shooting dead at least 10 people.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 264, published on Jan. 22 2016)

Kazakh leader calls for early election

JAN. 20 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev called a parliamentary election for March 20, more than a year ahead of schedule. Officially MPs asked him to bring the election forward from 2017 because they said that they had fulfilled their mandate. Unofficially, the Kazakh political elite appear to be increasingly worried about civil disobedience linked to worsening economic conditions.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 264, published on Jan. 22 2016)

Tajik police shaves 13000 beards

JAN. 19 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – In 2015, officials in Tajikistan shaved off beards on nearly 13,000 men, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported quoting a police press conference. The police described the purge as a war against excessive Islamic influences in the country. Tajikistan has said constantly over the past few years that Islamic radicals pose a real threat to its security. Rights activists have said this is simply another way of imposing control.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 264, published on Jan. 22 2016)

Azerbaijani lawyer to defend journalist

JAN. 21 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Khadija Ismayilova, a high-profile imprisoned Azerbaijani journalist, said that she had appointed Amal Clooney, the wife of Hollywood star George Clooney, as her lawyer ahead of a hearing in the European Court of Human Rights linked to her conviction this year on economic-related charges. Ismayilova is looking to challenge her conviction through the European Court. Europe and the West have accused Azerbaijan of cracking down on free speech.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 264, published on Jan. 22 2016)

Turkmen officials burn cigarettes

JAN. 15 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmen officials burnt piles of cigarettes in another indication that the reclusive state is on the brink of an outright ban on smoking, the AP news agency reported. Earlier this month, AFP reported that officials had told storekeepers to remove cigarettes from their shelves. President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov is known to hate smoking.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 264, published on Jan. 22 2016)

Uzbekistan searches for assets

JAN. 20 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbekistan is trying to recover up to $1m of assets frozen in bank accounts in Europe belonging to Gulnara Karimova, the eldest daughter of Uzbek president Islam Karimov, media reported. Ms Karimova has been under house arrest in Tashkent for nearly two years. She was once considered a potential successor to her father. Swiss authorities are investigating her for money laundering.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 264, published on Jan. 22 2016)

Uzbek police faces pay cut

JAN. 19 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Policemen in the city of Ferghana told the Uzbek language service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty that they are not receiving their full salaries. The information stream from Uzbekistan is weak but evidence has been growing that prices are rising and shortages of good growing. The Uzbek government has not commented.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 264, published on Jan. 22 2016)

Editorial: Protests grow in Azerbaijan

JAN. 15 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Protests in Azerbaijan’s peripheral regions could be soothed only with a resolute measure, the government thinks. President Ilham Aliyev decided to strike out VAT from flour and wheat products, one of the chief demands of the dozens of protesters that took the streets on Jan. 12-13 in several towns around the country.

The question, however, remains — will this one-off measure placate emotions?

Azerbaijan always had a fiery population, ready to manifest their discontent. The recent crackdown on freedom of expression and the virtual – and factual – suppression of any opposition led many to think that Azerbaijan would not allow the public to have a voice any longer.

Azerbaijanis have instead showed their, very real, anger. Video footage from opposition sources shows protesters and police clashing.

The economic downturn is threatening stability across the South Caucasus and Central Asia and poses a challenge to the authorities. How they, and how the protesters respond, is critical.

ENDS

(Editorial from Issue No. 263, published on Jan. 15 2016)

Georgian President approves redistricting

JAN. 8 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgian president Giorgi Margvelashvili signed into law a redistricting of constitutional boundaries, part of a move in Georgia to do away with so-called majoritarian seats in parliament. Of Georgia’s 150-seat parliament, 103 are made up of majoritarian, although the size of these seats varies from 9,000 to 150,000 people. The redistricting is the first step in a process designed to even out this imbalance.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 263, published on Jan. 15 2016)

Kazakhstan signals early parliamentary election

JAN. 13 2016, ALMATY (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan will likely hold a parliamentary election this year after MPs officially asked President Nursultan Nazarbayev to dissolve the current parliament.

They said that parliament had achieved the mandate it was given at the start of the current parliamentary cycle, although with the Kazakh economy in a perilous state, they may also have decided that it would be far better to deal with an election now rather than wait until 2017.

Kazakhstan’s 107-seat Lower Chamber voted unanimously to approve the dissolution of parliament in what was likely a choreographed decision. All 107 seats are held by pro-Nazarbayev MPs with his Nur Otan party dominating the chamber.

Last year, Kazakhstan also brought forward its presidential election by two years, officially to avoid a clash with the parliamentary election set for 2017.

Election monitors said that by bringing forward the presidential election, Mr Nazarbyaev was able to wrong foot opponents and secure an easy re-election.

Since independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, Kazakhstan has never held an election judged free and fair by Western election monitors.

Under Kazakh law, after officially consulting with the Speakers of the Lower and Upper Chambers of Parliament as well as with Prime Minister, President Nazarbayev can call an early parliamentary election.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 263, published on Jan. 15 2016)