Tag Archives: politics

Georgia’s anti-discrimination law fuels tension

MAY 2 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgia’s parliament passed an anti-discrimination bill it needed to implement for further integration into the EU but the conservative Orthodox Church has said it will protest against it.

Media reported that Georgia’s parliament passed the law unanimously.

The bill, its supporters and its detractors, give a good insight into the division coursing through Georgian society between modernisers and traditionalists.

The EU, which Georgia is desperate to join, has called on legislation that protects the rights of minorities. This has been generally accepted by Georgians, although the conservative Orthodox Church continues to rile against it.

And the Orthodox Church in Georgia is powerful. Patriarch Ilia II is considered a genuine power-broker, politicians cosy up to religious leaders and priests lead demonstrations. Last year, priests led a march against a gay rights parade that triggered violence. Tolerance in modern day Georgia only goes so far.

For the Church, the new laws are virtually heresy and it has promised to protest against it. Their main difficulty with the law is its protection of homosexuality.

Patriarch Ilia II was succinct. “Not a single believer will accept such law,” he said.

For NGOs pushing for the new legislation it has also been a slight disappointment. They were disappointed that the law finally adopted had been watered down from its original state.

Expect more tension between modernisers and traditionalists.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 183, published on May 7 2014)

Elites try to seize two Tajik bazaars

APRIL 29 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — For Western tourists bazaars in Central Asia are often quaint relics of bygone economies but for the local power elite they are strategic objects of political influence and profit.

This month, Tajik media reported efforts by state organs and affiliates of the ruling Rakhmon family to seize two large markets.

The larger of the two bazaars, just outside Dushanbe, was confiscated by a provincial court on April 21 following an investigation by anti-corruption authorities. It belonged to Muhiddin Kabiri, head of Tajikistan’s largest opposition party the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan.

A second bazaar, based in the country’s south-west Shahrtuz region, belonged to a local businessman.

Both bazaars employ over a thousand people. Moreover, Tajikistan’s bazaars are likely to grow in size and importance now the country is a member of the World Trade Organization — making them increasingly important strategic objectives.

ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 182, published on April 30 2014)

Ex-president criticises Georgian government

APRIL 22 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — In a speech via a video-link at the opening of a library in Tbilisi, former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili said he was still unable to visit Georgia because he was on a blacklist. Prosecutors in Georgia want to question Mr Saakashvili about alleged crimes carried out by ministers in his government. He says the allegations are politically motivated.

ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 182, published on April 30 2014)

Kazakhstan fears Ukraine turmoil

APRIL 28 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — The revolution and turmoil in Ukraine has frightened the Kazakh government and triggered a draconian law gagging the media, journalists and analysts told the Conway Bulletin.

Earlier this month, the Kazakh government introduced a law that will allow it to ban media during a state of emergency.

Yevgeniya Plakhina, an independent journalist and blogger who has staged anti-government protests, was succinct in her view of the new law.

“The continuous state of revolution in Ukraine has scared the government,” she said. “These laws give the leadership a red button, a button that can be arbitrarily pushed.””

Mainstream media in Kazakhstan has become increasingly marginalised, leaving a void for social media to fill. The authorities argue that social media, as well as more traditional forms of press, can be manipulated by extremists and needs to be controlled during an emergency.

Peer Teschendorf, regional director of the Friederich Ebert Foundation, a German organisation promoting civil society and media freedom, said that these laws were the culmination of a process that began after fighting in the oil town of Zhanaozen in Western Kazakhstan in 2011.

“The free press that is left now has to tread very carefully,” he said.

For Zhanbolat Mamay, journalist for the independent newspaper Tribuna, the law reflects future political landmarks that the authorities are worried about

“The signing of the Eurasian Economic Union treaty is in May and no-one is allowed to criticise it,” he said referring to the morphing of the Customs Union between Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan into a stronger union.

“Another reason behind the new laws lays in preparing for the future. The transition to a new leader will have to happen in an information void, in order to prevent criticism and revolt.”

ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 182, published on April 30 2014)

Kyrgyz PM urges police improvement

APRIL 24 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Perhaps highlighting his reformer credentials, Kyrgyzstan’s new PM, Joomart Ortobayev, criticised the the police for being flawed and corrupt, media reported. Mr Ortobayev said the police were not doing enough to stop the illegal trade in coal. Foreign investors have often complained about police corruption.

ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 182, published on April 30 2014)

Opposition politician attacked in Tajikistan

APRIL 29 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — The deputy head of Tajikistan’s main opposition party, Islamic Renaissance Party, said that 15 men beat up him and his son in the south-east region of Gorno-Badakhshan, media reported. The alleged attack on Saidumar Husaini could not be independently verified. Tajikistan has a poor freedom of speech record.

ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 182, published on April 30 2014)

Turkmen media blocks news on Ukraine

APRIL 29 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Turkmen state-controlled media has declined to broadcast news about the turmoil in Ukraine, the eurasianet.org website reported. Turkmenistan is one of the most repressive regimes in the world. The authorities want to avoid arousing anti-government sentiment in Turkmenistan.

ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 182, published on April 30 2014)

Kyrgyzstan raises utility tariffs

APRIL 28 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — July 1 will see costs for electricity, heating and hot water rise for residents of Kyrgyzstan, the ministry of energy said.

The last time the Kyrgyz authorities introduced a major utilities hike was at the start of 2010. A few months later, a violent revolution had overthrown Kurmanbek Bakiyev. Mr Bakiyev’s administration was famous for rolling blackouts and heating shortages as harsh winters and corruption took their toll on the national energy grid.

This time, the government headed by new PM Joomart Ortobayev is proceeding more carefully, staggering prices for energy relative to consumption. Heavy users of electricity will be charged triple the current prices by 2017 but the more economically vulnerable users who use lower levels of electricity will be charged only 22.5% more. Heating and hot water costs are similarly tailored.

Kyrgyz energy utilities remain among the cheapest in the world, but in the context of a struggling economy, some are feeling squeezed and the increases are a risk for Mr Ortobayev who has been Kyrgyzstan’s PM for only a few weeks.

Elena Jdanova, a Bishkek pet store owner, thought that small businesses and the middle class are picking up the tab for poor energy policies.

“Every year the government accuses [citizens] of overconsumption, when we know energy is still being stolen by officials. I have over 130 animals that need constant light and heat. These increases will ruin me,” she said.

Kyrgyzstan’s opposition is likely to use the utilities price increase to whip up support but, long-term, the government had little alternative to reducing the subsidies.

(News report from Issue No. 182, published on April 30 2014)

Italy grants asylum to Kazakh ex-banker

APRIL 19 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — An Italian court granted refugee status to the wife and daughter of Mukhtar Ablyazov, a Kazakh former banker-turned-opposition leader currently in French custody awaiting the result of an extradition request from Kazakhstan. The ruling is a blow to Kazakhstan which had been looking to force their return.

(News report from Issue No. 181, published on April 23 2014)

Georgia celebrates Easter

APRIL 20 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Easter Service at Tbilisi’s’ Sameba Cathedral has been the one place where implacable political foes in staunchly Orthodox Georgia can come together. This year, though, was different.

On Easter Sunday, April 20, only Georgian PM Irakli Garibashvili and his associates attended Sameba Cathedral. At the service Patriach Ilia II delivered an epistle warning of the dangers of pseudo-liberals, an ongoing debate in Georgia.

The opposition United National Movement, instead, visited services at Orthodox, Catholic and Baptist churches and congratulated Armenian Christians on the holiday. With a local election on June 15, commentators saw this as a move to woo minorities. Many are worried about a perceived increase in Georgian nationalism under the present government.

Also missing from Sameba Cathedral was President Giorgi Margvelashvili. He has had a public falling out with his patron, billionaire former PM Bidzina Ivanishvili, and reportedly refuses to be seen with members of the government. He attended church in his small hometown.

Mr Ivanishvili, the government’s main backer, made no public appearance, fuelling widespread speculation he has left the country. A fractious Easter, in an increasingly fractious Georgia.

(News report from Issue No. 181, published on April 23 2014)