Field Reports
GEORGIAN OPPOSITION SUSPENDS BOYCOTT OF PARLIAMENT
By Kakha Jibladze (11/1/2006 issue of the CACI Analyst)
David Gamkrelidze, the leader of the oppositional party the New Rights and the head of its faction in the parliament, announced he and his followers would return to the parliament in the wake of President Mikheil Saakashvili’s proposal to amend articles of the Georgian Constitution concerning the president’s re-election. While Gamkrelidze did not mention the president’s announcement specifically, he did note that there were a lot of ‘important’ issues coming up for debate in the parliament and the opposition wanted to be heard.Earlier other opposition parties also announced their decision to end the boycott.
MEETINGS BETWEEN PRESIDENT AND OPPOSITION IN KYRGYZSTAN FAILED TO MATERIALIZE
By Nurshat Ababakirov (11/1/2006 issue of the CACI Analyst)
On October 21, President Kurmanbek Bakiyev was supposed to meet with the opposition’s leaders. But this failed due to an unexpected increase in the number of people in the president’s entourage, which contradicted the previously agreed composition of participants – the president, prime minister, and head of the president’s administration face to face with 14 representatives of the opposition. The opposition promptly turned down its intention to proceed with the meeting.TAJIKISTAN PREPARING FOR PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS
By Zoya Pylenko (11/1/2006 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The Central Election Commission (CEC) registered five out of six presidential hopefuls – namely: Abdukhalim Gafarov, the leader of one wing of the Socialist Party that broke away from the main body earlier this year (thanks to government manipulation, critics allege) and has now officially been acknowledged as the country’s official Socialist Party instead of the other wing; Amir Karakulov from the Agrarian Party (which was founded less than a year ago); Ismoil Talbakov, from the Communist Party; Olimjon Boboev, from the Party of Economic Reform (as the Agrarian Party, a brand-new party that was registered with conspicuous ease); and Emomali Rahmonov, from the People’s Democratic Party.According to one election observer, only Talbakov can be considered a more or less serious candidate, with support among the economically hard-hit elderly and the remaining Slavic community in Tajikistan.
The candidates had to collect 160,000 signatures (equivalent to 5 percent of the Tajik population) to be considered for registration by the CEC.
WHAT WILL NOVEMBER 2 BRING IN KYRGYZSTAN?
By Nurshat Ababakirov (10/18/2006 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The Council of the Movement for Reforms bases its claims on several arguments. First, it argues that the government ignored the will of the people of Kyrgyzstan by disregarding demands set at the meetings on 29 April and 27 May, the demands of Kurultai (people’s assembly) in Aksy on 17 September, and the resolution of Jogorku Kenesh (parliament) dated 22 September. Second, it contends that “family rule†and political persecutions still prevail.Visit also
Staff Publications
Silk Road Paper S. Frederick Starr, Greater Central Asia as A Component of U.S. Global Strategy, October 2024.
Analysis Laura Linderman, "Rising Stakes in Tbilisi as Elections Approach," Civil Georgia, September 7, 2024.
Analysis Mamuka Tsereteli, "U.S. Black Sea Strategy: The Georgian Connection", CEPA, February 9, 2024.
Silk Road Paper Svante E. Cornell, ed., Türkiye's Return to Central Asia and the Caucasus, July 2024.
Book Svante E. Cornell, ed., "The Changing Geopolitics of Central Asia and the Caucasus" AFPC Press/Armin LEar, 2023.
Silk Road Paper Svante E. Cornell and S. Frederick Starr, Stepping up to the “Agency Challenge”: Central Asian Diplomacy in a Time of Troubles, July 2023.
Silk Road Paper S. Frederick Starr, U.S. Policy in Central Asia through Central Asian Eyes, May 2023.