Tag Archives: politics

Georgia splits interior ministry

MAY 17 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgia’s government approved a plan to split the country’s much-loathed interior ministry in two.

The idea is to spin off the security and intelligence responsibilities of the interior ministry and unravel a merger created by former president Mikheil Saakashvili. He joined the two ministries together in the early part of his 2004-13 administration under the premise of cutting costs. Since then, though, its unpopularity has grown and opposition parties have pledged to break it up.

The most eye-catching part of the reform is placing the new State Security Service under parliamentary control to increase surveillance over it. The head of the State Security Service will be elected for one six year term only.

These reforms will, probably, prove popular with ordinary Georgians. They are also important at a former Soviet Union level too as they once again show Georgia’s ambitions.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 232, published on May 20 2015)

Azerbaijani President ditches plans to travel to EU summit

MAY 20 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Seemingly in a fit of pique, Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev said he will not attend an EU summit in Riga later this month designed to bring countries that ring Europe closer to the group.

APA news agency, which is linked to the Azerbaijani authorities, quoted the deputy head of the presidential admitstration, Novruz Mammadov, as saying that Mr Aliyev blamed the EU and the US for mounting an anti-Azerbaijan campaign in the media.

“The expansion of the black PR campaign against Azerbaijan, in close collaboration with some western powers which claim to be interested to develop strategic partnership ties with Azerbaijan, on the eve of the first European Games has triggered a reasonable uproar,” APA reported.

The West has criticised Azerbaijan for what it has said are retarded steps on civil rights. Courts in Azerbaijan have imprisoned journalists lawyers, opposition leaders and activists who have been critical of the government.

For Azerbaijan, this is a particularly sensitive time. Next month it hosts the inaugural European Games and it desperately wants to both put on a good show and also to present itself in a good light.

By ditching plans to visit the EU summit in Riga, Mr Aliyev is aligning himself more closely with Russia and away from Europe.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 232, published on May 20 2015)

Turkmenistan cracking down on media

MAY 19 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The New York-based Human Rights Watch accused the Turkmen government of using new rules which ban satellite dishes from apartment blocks because they are an eyesore as a pretext for cracking down on independent information sources.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 232, published on May 20 2015)

EU criticises Kyrgyzstan on gay rights

MAY 18 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – At a meeting in Brussels focused on human rights, the EU criticised new legislation passing through Kyrgyzstan’s parliament that outlaws promoting gay relationships.

The legislation is similar to laws brought in by Russia two years ago. Analysts have said Bishkek may have been motivated to introduce the rules by a desire to cosy up to the Kremlin.

The criticism of gay rights in Kyrgyzstan came the day after anti-gay rights protesters in Bishkek attacked a pro-gay rights meeting being held in the garden of an upmarket Bishkek hotel.

Over the past few years, the West has watched as Kyrgyzstan, once its poster-boy in Central Asia, has moved increasingly towards Russia. This month it also joined the Kremlin-led Eurasian Economic Union.

As well as criticising Kyrgyzstan over its gay rights record, EU officials also praised the country for trying to clamp down on torture in prison and improving women’s rights.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 232, published on May 20 2015)

Police in Azerbaijan arrest Aliyev associate

MAY 13 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Police in Baku arrested Nizami Piriyev, a high-profile Azerbaijani businessman closely associated with President Ilham Aliyev.

Mr Piriyev, media reported, was charged with various financial crimes. He is in prison ahead of a trial in what appears to be a spectacular public fall.

One of Azerbaijan’s richest men, Mr Piriyev was the official owner of the Azerbaijan Methanol Company, a large and high-profile operation on the outskirts of Baku.

He paid for former British PM Tony Blair to fly to Baku in 2009 to open the plant. Mr Blair, criticised for taking cash from dubious governments since he left office in 2007, was photographed at a press conference in Baku sitting between Mr Piriyev and his son, Nasib.

Mr Piriyev’s holding company PNN Group also owned franchise rights to a number of Western brands in Azerbaijan and across the former Soviet Union. This included the British high street news agent WHSmith and US fast food chain KFC.

Mr Piriyev used to work in Russia for Gazprom and had businesses stretching across Central Asia.

It’s unclear what triggered his arrest and whether he has been associated with Azerbaijan’s increasingly marginalised opposition or if he had fallen out with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. The United States and Europe have been increasingly critical of Mr Aliyev for cracking down on opposition.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 231, published on May 13 2015)

Georgian government survives vote

MAY 13 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgia’s government easily survived a no-confidence vote in parliament triggered by the resignation of a minister earlier this month, meaning that PM Irakli Garbashvili remains in power.

Mr Garbashvili, part of the Georgian Dream coalition that turfed out former president Mikheil Saakashvili’s party from power, appointed four new ministers, including Tina Khidasheli as the country’s first female defence minister.

Importantly, even though Mr Garbashvili’s government won the no-confidence vote 87-38, it would still have damaged the government’s credibility.

The Georgian Dream has been beset by bickering and in- fighting and its popularity has plummeted as a regional economic recession batters Georgia. Its currency has slid 32% against the dollar.

Alongside Ms Khidasheli, Mr Garbashvili appointed Gigla Agulashvili as environment minister, Nodar Javakhishvili as infrastructure minister and Tariel Khechikashvili as minister for sport.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 231, published on May 13 2015)

Georgia allows voting on a prosecutor

MAY 7 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgia will allow parliament to vote on the appointment of the prosecutor-general, media reported, a move designed to bolster democracy. Under the current system the PM appoints the country’s top prosecutor. New laws will introduce a special council to advise on an appointment which will then need to be approved by government and parliament.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 231, published on May 13 2015)

Support slips for Georgian Dream

MAY 13 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – In an opinion poll for the National Democratic Institute in Georgia, only 24% of respondents said they would vote for the ruling Georgian Dream Coalition. The poll is another blow to the authority of the coalition.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 231, published on May 13 2015)

Kyrgyzstan appointed new PM

APRIL 30 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan’s parliament approved former economy minister Temir Sariyev to be prime minister, the fifth in five years.

Mr Sariyev succeeds Djoomart Otorbayev who quit after failing to secure a deal with Canada’s Centerra Gold over the Kumtor gold mine, Kyrgyzstan’s largest industrial asset.

Control of Kumtor, and Kyrgyzstan’s push to increase its ownership, has dominated Kyrgyz politics. Mr Sariyev referenced it.

“Nationalisation will only create certain risks and threats for us. We must seek other ways,” he said.

Mr Otorbayev, who served as PM for about a year, had pushed to trade Kyrgyzstan’s 32.7% stake in Centerra Gold in for a 50:50 stake in a new company that would own Kumtor. When this stalled he switched to calling for more directors on the Centerra Gold board. This also failed.

Some Kyrgyz MPs have called for the government to nationalise Kumtor.

Mr Sariyev takes over as head of a coalition of MPs from three parties — the Social Democrats, Ata-Meken (Father- land) and Ar-Namys (Dignity). Together they hold 69 seats out of the 120 seat-parliament. In November, Kyrgyzstan holds another parliamentary election, its second since a constitutional change in 2010 handed more power to parliament.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 230, published on May 6 2015)

Georgian Dream criticises Central Bank

APRIL 30 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Bidzina Ivanishvili, founder of the ruling Georgian Dream coalition, and a former Georgian PM, has once again criticised the Central Bank for failing to stop a depreciation of the lari currency, media reported. The previous government, loathed by Mr Ivanishvili, appointed the current Central Bank chief.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 230, published on May 6 2015)