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ASTANA (TCA) — The upper house of the Kazakh parliament has approved a bill allowing President Nursultan Nazarbayev to lead the country’s Security Council for life, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reported. Continue reading
ALMATY (TCA) — As President Nazarbayev will turn 78 this year, the power succession issue is becoming even more relevant in Kazakhstan, prompting a re-emergence of the country’s opposition on the political scene. We are republishing this article on the issue, written by Joanna Lillis, originally published by Eurasianet: After a long hibernation, organized political opposition is making a comeback in Kazakhstan. For over five years, the country’s political scene has been utterly moribund. The parties that are allowed to exist sing from the same hymn sheet as the authorities. Dissenters have either found their organizations banned or have withered away into insignificance. Now, two movements have surfaced with a similar goal, but very different approaches. One is the Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan, which commonly goes by its acronym DVK, and is led by Mukhtar Ablyazov, a France-based ex-banker bent on toppling President Nursultan Nazarbayev through direct action. More recently, another markedly less combative outfit, Forum Jana Qazaqstan – or Forum New Kazakhstan – joined the fray. Jana Qazaqstan publicly declared its existence at a press conference in Almaty on May 17, following an inaugural get-together in Brussels in April. The movement is conceived as a broad church pooling the energies of prominent figures from different walks of life who want to nudge the country onto a more democratic path and give regular people a stake in their future. “Jana Qazaqstan is offering an alternative with pluralistic thinking and a just and democratic society respecting human rights and freedoms, where politics and the economy work for the benefit of people,” founding member Rasul Zhumaly told the news conference. Many of the faces in Jana Qazaqstan will be familiar to seasoned observers of the often-hapless opposition scene in Kazakhstan. There are political scientists like Zhumaly and Aidos Sarym, journalists Yermurat Bapi and Nazira Darimbet, rights campaigner Galym Ageleuov, and one-time opposition party leaders Serikzhan Mambetalin and Amirzhan Kosanov. Mambetalin, who is a British passport-holder these days, is involved in the movement despite a court order ostensibly prohibiting him from engaging in public activities. The timing for the group’s appearance is predicated on the expectation that Kazakhstan is on the cusp of a new phase in its history. Nazarbayev will turn 78 in July. That advanced age instills his detractors with hope a change of leadership is surely imminent. And Jana Qazaqstan says it wants the broader population to be involved in the transition process. Their concern is that without the requisite scrutiny, the whole process and the divvying out of influence and resources will all be done in smoky backrooms. “We say that the public […] should not occupy the role of bystander and just accept what the authorities designate for us,” Kosanov explained. Society “should be a participant in this process – we are going to demand that.” Jana Qazaqstan has eschewed militant language and is positioning itself as open to constructive engagement with the authorities. This docility has led to suggestions from some quarters that the government may in...
BISHKEK (TCA) — Another loyalist of the former president has come under fire in Kyrgyzstan, which only proves the widening rift between the incumbent president and his predecessor. We are republishing this article on the issue, written by Nurjamal Djanibekova, originally published by Eurasianet: Continue reading
TASHKENT (TCA) — The economic and political reforms going on in Uzbekistan are changing the geopolitical landscape in Central Asia, which requires new policy attitudes to the region from the world’s leading powers. We are republishing this article on the issue, written by S. Frederick Starr and Svante E. Cornell*, originally published by the CACI Analyst: Continue reading
BISHKEK (TCA) — Kyrgyzstan’s former Prime Minister Sapar Isakov says he has been questioned by investigators over an incident that left parts of the country’s capital city without heating last winter, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reported. Continue reading
BISHKEK (TCA) — The new, 30th cabinet has been sworn in in Kyrgyzstan, which includes old faces and pursues the old goals left over from the previous governments. We are republishing this article on the issue by Nurjamal Djanibekova, originally published by Eurasianet: There is at least one new thing about Kyrgyzstan’s latest prime minister. In a faintly populist move, Mukhammedkaliy Abylgaziyev, 50, has announced he’s relinquishing his motorcade and says he no longer wants traffic blocked whenever he is passing through town. True to his word, on April 23, he turned up for work without a security detail at 7:30 a.m., in time to avoid the rush hour jam. The new Cabinet approved by parliament and President Sooronbai Jeenbekov last week is thus signaling a change of tone if not, as political commentators argue, of content. The team was put together in remarkably hasty fashion. Abylgaziyev’s predecessor, Sapar Isakov, a neat and boyish 40-year-old, was shoved out the door on April 19 in a humiliatingly comprehensive no-confidence vote in parliament. This administrative spring cleaning appears to be part of efforts by Jeenbekov to expunge the governing elite of the remnant cronies of his ostensibly allied and yet meddling predecessor. Even the main replacement seemed slightly bemused by his new roles. “I will honestly admit that I haven’t managed over this couple of days to draw up an agenda and put together a team,” Abylgaziyev told lawmakers at his confirmation hearing on April 20. “We are just changing the deputy premiers and a few ministers. But the only thing I will be asking of my Cabinet is professionalism. I won’t be holding onto anybody here. Anyone who isn’t up to the job will be fired.” Abylgaziyev was selling himself short though. Personnel changes are taking place across the board. Speaking generally, the people squeezed out had one thing in common — they were confidantes of the former President Almazbek Atambayev, who left office in November at the end of his single permitted six-year term. Atambayev and Jeenbekov are old-time associates, but the two men appear currently to be in the midst of a falling out that has precipitated a clear-out of the former leader’s holdover associates. Isakov was a trusted protege of the ex-president. The same could be said for Ulan Israilov, who has lost his portfolio as Interior Minister. The heads of the Defense Ministry, Health Ministry, Economy Ministry and Emergency Situations Ministry have likewise all been switched out. The Atambayev-appointed head of the powerful security services and the General Prosecutor were jettisoned earlier in the month. The names at the top might have changed, but the faces are anything but fresh. Almost all are long-time civil service veterans and Jeenbekov loyalists. Prior to running for presidential office, Jeenbekov was prime minister, and Abylgaziyev was his deputy PM. After assuming the position of head of state, Jeenbekov appointed Abylgaziyev chief of staff. From 2010 to 2016, Abylgaziyev was head of the Social Fund, the state body responsible for administering...
