Tag Archives: politics

Kazakhstan’s unions are afraid of authorities

APRIL 7 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — The spectre of Kazakh police shooting dead oil workers during a strike in 2011 haunts trade union members who are now too afraid of the security forces to launch long-term industrial action.

The issue of workers’ rights in Kazakhstan surged into the public consciousness in December 2011 after police shot dead at least 15 people in the scruffy western oil town of Zhanaozen, bringing to an end a six month strike aimed at increasing oil workers’ salaries.

In an interview with The Conway Bulletin in Almaty, Aleksei Nigai, deputy head of the small Odak union, said that although conditions for workers in general had not improved since 2011, workers avoided long stand offs with the security forces.

“Since then [Zhanaozen], there have been more and more strikes but the scale has been modest because workers fear the government’s reaction,” he said.

“Nobody wants to be shot for a salary increase.”

Mr Nigai was talking just a few days after a four-day strike hit an oil services company in western Kazakhstan.

He also said the government was planning to introduce legislation that would increase the punishment for strikes not authorised and organised by the official government-linked union.

In other words, Mr Nigai said, the Kazakh state wanted a Potemkin union system that it could easily control.

“There will be only one umbrella organisation, the Federation, which is appointed by the President,” he said with a sigh and a shrug.

“Tell me how this is different to, say, Turkmenistan.”

ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 179, published on April 9 2014)

Armenian PM quits

APRIL 3 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Tigran Sargsyan, 54, resigned as Armenia’s PM without giving a clear explanation as to why. Mr Sargsyan, no relation to Armenian president Serzh Sargsyan, had been PM since 2008. He had previously been head of the Central Bank. His government had grown increasingly unpopular over pension reform.

ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 179, published on April 9 2014)

Kyrgyzstan wants to raise pension age

APRIL 7 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Under gentle pressure from the World Bank, a key donor, Kyrgyzstan plans to increase the retirement age for women by two years to 60-years-old.

The idea is to both equalise the retirement age of men and women and generate revenue for the state pension plan.

But reforming Soviet-era pension plans is an emotive issue. In neighbouring Kazakhstan, a similar plan last year triggered protests and the resignation of a government minister.

Kyrgyzstan currently has a young population but with a grey economy worth 40% of GDP, payments into the government’s pension pot and other forms of social assistance are miserly.

This needs to change to support a society where life expectancies are increasing, although people in sight of retirement are unlikely to be thinking fiscally.

Varya Zirilenko, 53, said her hands ached from the repetition of sorting potatoes at the processing plant in the northern city of Tokmok where she works.

“When I come home at night they shake. Is that normal? Must I go on like this for another seven years before I can receive a full pension?” Varya expects her monthly pension to be over 6,500 Kyrgyz soms ($120). Many are even smaller.

Perhaps, though, the retirement age is just one of the issues surrounding Kyrgyzstan’s pension scheme. Another is corruption, endemic throughout the country.

Akhmatbek Keldibekov, an opposition politician from the country’s south is currently on trial for corruption. The charges relate to his time as head of the Social Fund under former president Kurmanbek Bakiyev.

ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 179, published on April 9 2014)

Georgia questions Saakashvili ally

APRIL 5 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt summed up the reaction of the West when he said it smacked of “the politics of revenge”. He was talking about the questioning by prosecutors of Giga Bokeria, regarded as the brains behind the government of former President Mikheil Saakashvili.

Mr Bokeria is the latest in a line of officials from the Saakashvili era to be questioned about alleged crimes committed during their time in office.

The case is believed to relate to several articles in the international press last year that criticised billionaire ex-PM Bidzina Ivanishvili. Mr Ivanishvili, who unseated Mr Saakashvili, has accused Mr Bokeria of using state funds to spread false information.”

Although questioned as a witness, sources believe Mr Bokeria could face criminal charges.

ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 179, published on April 9 2014)

Massimov returns as Kazakhstan’s PM

APRIL 2 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev re-shuffled his government, bringing back Karim Massimov as PM.

Nurlan Nigmatulin, formerly the Nur Otan head in parliament, was promoted to replace Mr Massimov as head of the presidential administration.

Mr Nazarbayev also gave his eldest daughter Dariga Nazarbayeva a boost by promoting her to head Nur Otan in parliament. Nur Otan is Mr Nazarbayev’s political party.

The re-emergence of Mr Massimov, who had been PM between 2007 and 2012, and the promotion of Ms Nazarbayeva set off speculation over who would eventually succeed Mr Nazarbayev.

Ms Nazarbayeva, 50, has enjoyed a resurgence back into public life after winning a seat in parliament in 2012. Until 2007 she had been prominent but fell from grace when her then husband, Rakhat Aliyev, argued with her father and then fled abroad.

Both Ms Nazarbayeva and Mr Massimov are among the favourites to succeed Mr Nazarbayev when he finally steps aside.

ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 179, published on April 9 2014)

Armenian court says pension reform is illegal

APRIL 3 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenia’s Constitutional Court ruled that the government’s flagship pension reforms were illegal, triggering a fresh crisis at the top of the Armenian political spectrum.

The ruling was a major blow to the government which has stubbornly stuck to its pension reform agenda despite increasing levels of public discontent. It also appeared to come as a surprise.

The following day Tigran Sargsyan resign as Armenia’s PM, although he did not link his resignation explicitly with the Court’s ruling. There have been perpetual rumours about his health and other job offers.

Later this month, the government also faces a vote of no confidence in parliament. Opinion polls have shown that its popularity has sunk to fresh lows.

And most of this unpopularity stems from the pension reforms.

Thousands have marched against changes which were introduced at the start of the year. The reforms stated that everybody born after Jan. 1 1974 would have to pay 5% of their salary into a state pension fund. The state has promised to match private contributions to the pension fund up to a maximum of $61 per month.

But now the Constitutional Court has ruled that the pension reforms introduced by the government restrict the rights of its citizens.

The problem for Armenia is, similarly to other countries in the former Soviet Union, it simply has to reform its state pension system to pay for its aging population and to compensate for the large grey economy.

ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 179, published on April 9 2014)

Georgian politician falls victim of kidnap attempt

MARCH 31 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Members of the political party of former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili accused his enemies of trying to kidnap one of his allies. Nugzar Tsiklauri, an MP for the United National Movement party, said eight men tried to force him into a car after a night out. The political scene in Georgia is strained.

(News report from Issue No. 178, published on April 2 2014)

FIFA chief visits Tajikistan

MARCH 28 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Sepp Blatter has spent much of his career as FIFA president fending off allegations of institutional corruption. Even so, Tajikistan must have come as a shock.

Mr Blatter visited Tajikistan as part of a tour of Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan which culminated in a meeting of UEFA, Europe’s governing football body, in Astana (March 25-28).

He was greeted off the plane at Dushanbe airport by Rustam Emomali, son of President Emomai Rakhmon and head of the Tajik Football Federation. Mr Emomalii also owns and occasionally plays for FC Istiqlol, who thrashed FC Ravshan 5-0 in the Tajik Super Cup final with Blatter in attendance.

Not everyone is happy with FC Istiqlol’s dominance, though. In 2011 a match between the same two sides triggered a riot when FC Ravshan’s supporters concluded that FC Istiqlol had bought the referee.

Police arrested 20 people and at least 10 people were hospitalised during fighting between the Ravshan Ultras and the security forces.

Memories of a five year civil war (1992-97) limit opposition towards Mr Rakhmon’s presidency, although anger with the president does appear to be growing. One irk is that he directs much foreign investment towards his hometown of Danghara while other parts of the country struggle for electricity.

(News report from Issue No. 178, published on April 2 2014)

Kyrgyzstan picks a new PM

APRIL 1 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kyrgyzstan’s parliament confirmed the new governing coalition would be made up of the same partners as the previous one — the Social Democratic Party, Ar-Namys and Ata-Meken.

The only apparent difference is the PM who is likely to be Djoomart Otorbayev, a deputy prime minister in the last two coalition governments.

But Mr Otorbayev is already a divisive choice. He is a former World Bank technocrat and in Kyrgyzstan’s partisan politics that sits uncomfortably with many.

What he lacks, decried Kyrgyz MP Jusupali Isayev, is a certain Kyrgyz-ness. Mr Isayev said that his World Bank training is all very well but Mr Otorbayev is out-of-touch with ordinary Kyrgyz as he doesn’t know how to keep livestock or dry apricots.

Indeed, Mr Otorbayev has already signalled where he lies on the central debate in Kyrgyzstan between nationalist policies and attracting essential foreign investment, when he said that he would not look to re-negotiate a new deal with Toronto-based Centerra Gold over the Kumtor gold mine.

In February, the Kyrgyz government and Centerra Gold agreed a 50:50 ownership deal of the gold mine.

Kumtor is key to the Kyrgyz economy. It currently accounts for 10% of GDP.

(News report from Issue No. 178, published on April 2 2014)

Turkmenistan opens all-women prison

MARCH 24 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Turkmen authorities opened an all-women prison, the Central Asia Online website reported quoting a prison official. The prison will hold 850 women and include a 30-bed maternity ward. Soviet-era prisons in Central Asia are regarded as some of the harshest in the world.

(News report from Issue No. 177, published on March 26 2014)