By Marat Yermukanov (5/3/2006 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Tokayev had an unusually busy schedule during his April 11-13 visit to Beijing, conducting a wide range of talks with top Chinese officials on energy, transport communication, border trade and, last but not least, trans-border river issues, a long-running sticking point in relations between the two states. Considering the complexity of problems in relations with Beijing despite the invariable protestations of friendship in bilateral summit talks, Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry apparently had good reasons to postpone the visit to China, originally scheduled to take place in late February. Tokayev sought to prepare a good ground for the upcoming visit of President Nursultan Nazarbayev to Beijing planned for this autumn.

By Nurshat Ababakirov (5/3/2006 issue of the CACI Analyst)

The rally, which comprised at least 10,000 people on the main square of Bishkek, was according to the organizers supposed to last for several days, until the government fulfilled the demands of the opposition, which consist of a ten-step program towards democracy and the rule of law. However, the rally disbanded after President Kurmanbek Bakiev and Prime Minister Felix Kulov came out to the crowd.

The president could hardly finish his speech, because of the roaring noise of the crowd when he called the organizers of the meeting “blind politicians, if they don’t see any changes [in politics]”.

By Nurshat Ababakirov (4/19/2006 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Prime Minister Felix Kulov announced that the incident had political grounds because Mr. Baisalov is a prominent critic of criminals’ attempts to enter politics. Three days before the incident, the Coalition along with a number of non-governmental organizations led a march in the streets of Bishkek calling for the government to make more decisive steps to contain the burgeoning criminal world.