Field Reports

The Prime Minister designate and leader of Georgian Dream-Democratic Georgia (GDDG) Bidzina Ivanishvili completed the nomination of a new cabinet on October 16, after revealing most candidates a week earlier. Personalities with different professional background and experiences as well as young, western-educated and previously untested politicians will take ministerial posts after the new parliament approves their candidacies later this month.  

During a visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin to Tajikistan on October 5, 2012, Dushanbe and Moscow signed a treaty extending the presence of the Russian military bases in Tajikistan until 2042. Despite the long negotiation process, which was commenced in September 2011, and a number of statements made by senior officials in Tajikistan’s government, Dushanbe failed to extract payments for the use of facilities and its territory for the Russian military bases, owing to its reliance on Moscow for remittances sent by Tajik migrants in Russia and fuel imports.

The six-party coalition Georgian Dream achieved a convincing victory over the ruling party United National Movement in Georgia’s October 1 parliamentary elections.

On September 24, President Nazarbayev accepted the resignation of his Prime Minister Karim Massimov’s government formed in the wake of the early presidential elections in April 2011. By another presidential decree, Massimov was appointed as a new chief of the presidential administration thus replacing Aslan Mussin who has headed this key political institution since October 2008. A reserved and even secretive politician, Karim Massimov was the longest-serving head of the Kazakh government (since January 2007) whose consecutive terms coincided with the most difficult periods of economic crisis and turmoil on financial and energy markets. When speaking of his Prime Minister’s work before the two chambers of Parliament, Nazarbayev praised his professionalism and even recalled that Massimov had already submitted several letters of resignation, citing fatigue and personal circumstances.

The visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Bishkek has resulted in the signature of vitally important agreements for Kyrgyzstan. While many consider this visit a historical turning point in Kyrgyzstan-Russia relations and a success of Kyrgyz foreign policy, others still voice concerns about the actual implementation of these agreements.

On September 11, 2012, Uzbekistan’s Committee on Protection of the State Border under the Service of State Security (SSS) stated that Uzbek border guards had come under fire from Tajik counterparts near the village Chillamazor in Zaamin rayon, Jizakh district. Tajik border guards had purportedly crossed the Uzbek-Tajik border line adopted as a result of an Interstate Agreement signed by the Presidents and Parliaments of the two states. One Uzbek border guard was injured in the exchange of fire and Uzbekistan has appealed to Tajik authorities to conduct a thorough and impartial investigation of the incident.

On September 6 and 7, Uzbekistan’s President Islam Karimov paid an official visit to Kazakhstan. Upon his arrival at the Astana airport, he was warmly greeted by his Kazakh counterpart Nursultan Nazarbayev. Despite the geographic proximity of the two countries and the prominent role that each plays in Central Asia – Kazakhstan remains the most economically advanced Central Asian country, while Uzbekistan is the most populous and in many respects the strongest in military terms – Kazakh-Uzbek relations have traditionally been complicated. As both Astana and Tashkent consider themselves to be regional leaders in post-Soviet Central Asia, their bilateral relationship has been marked throughout the 1990s and 2000s by a scarcity of official contacts and a lack of long-term cooperation projects. The last time Karimov went to Kazakhstan on a bilateral visit was in April 2008, although he also attended the Astana Summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in June 2011.

In September 2012, three reputable international organizations – National Democratic Institute (NDI), the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), and the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) – reported on a “competitive” though “polarized” pre-election environment in Georgia ahead of the October 1 parliamentary elections.

The breakup of Kyrgyzstan’s parliamentary majority coalition and dismissal of the government as a result of corruption allegations against Prime Minister Omurbek Babanov has led to the formation of a new government. While many consider the new Prime Minister, Jantoro Satybaldiev, an “anti-crisis manager” in light of the serious economic problems the country is facing, others are skeptical of his capability to bring about significant changes.