Field Reports

The past week in Azerbaijan was characterized with another wave of tensions between the authorities and opposition parties. Local analysts predict that, as the elections near, these tensions will increase even more due to the disagreements between the ruling and opposition parties over the conduct of the election campaign.

The Third Investment Summit, and the 23rd meeting of the CIS Electric Power Council were held in the state residence in Cholpon-Ata, on the coast of Issyk-Kul lake in early July. The Investment summit gathered President of Kyrgyzstan Askar Akaev, state officials along with international financial organizations representatives, and important foreign businessmen, strategic investors, around the discussion table.

On July 9, 2003, the European Council as a joint action appointed a special representative to the South Caucasus, confirming the willingness of the EU to play a more active role in the region and a need to establish clear lines of responsibility.

Azerbaijan’s relations with the Council of Europe experienced another test last week. The summer session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) included the situation of the political prisoners in Azerbaijan into its agenda. This created the possibility of sanctions for official Baku.

As the presidential elections in Azerbaijan heat up, the political scene becomes more and more interesting. Last week, the ruling Yeni Azerbaijan Party created a controversy, which many domestic observers characterized as a \"pathetic situation\". On June 28, an “initiative group” gathered in Nakhichevan, the home of President Aliyev, and nominated his son Ilham Aliyev for the presidency. The current election code allows candidates to be nominated not only from political parties and blocks of political parties, but also from initiative groups numbering one hundred or more people.

Speaking before journalists on June 25, the deputy chairman of the anti-drug committee of the Justice Ministry Yerlan Saparov admitted that efforts in fighting drug abuse among young people fell far short of expectations. “The situation is very complicated” he said laconically answering awkward questions from the media. Available statistics have more to say.

The situation with independent media outlets and freedom of press in Kyrgyzstan has recently been evoking much concern. One of the leading opposition newspapers “Moya stolitsa” was forced to close and another independent publication “Obshestveni Reiting” was ordered to pay a considerable fine to Foreign Ministry officials. These recent events undermine not only the freedom of speech and press, but also the very democratization process that Kyrgyzstan claims to be promoting.

As Azerbaijan’s October 15 Presidential election approaches, four leading opposition candidates are trying to overcome personal differences and launch a common candidate – an issue crucial to their possible success. An upcoming visit to Washington may crystallize this development.

The Central Election Commission in Azerbaijan has been set up by an extraordinary session of parliament, as well as a detailed schedule of the Presidential Elections to be held on October 15. Despite protesting the structure of the CEC and the Electoral Code, the opposition is participating.

The Secretive Hizb-ut-Tahrir movement is increasingly seen as a threat to the Kyrgyz government. Nothing seems to stop the movement’s growing influence, and it is now feared that Hizb-ut-Tahrir has begun a process of infiltrating government agencies.