CENTRAL ASIA - CAUCASUS ANALYST

CENTRAL ASIA - CAUCASUS ANALYST Wednesday/April 04, 2007

CAN SOMEBODY TURN THE LIGHTS ON IN TAJIKISTAN?
Tajikistan has been experiencing electricity shortages for several years; however, this winter the most severe energy crisis hit, with disastrous effects on the population. Most regions in the country were supplied with electricity for only several hours per day, whereas rural areas did not have electricity at all. This year’s power outages reached even Dushanbe, the capital of the country, where the supply of energy was limited to only eight hours instead of the usual seventeen. Although the government took some steps to resolve the situation, most hopes for light and heat in the next winter season come from the bottom up – from the initiative and creativity of the local population.

GEORGIAN ENERGY CONFERENCE HELD
On March 22, the sixth annual Georgian International Oil, Gas, Energy and Infrastructure Conference began in Tbilisi. The event, embracing everything from transportation to energy security, caps a week of energy announcements from the government.

ETHNIC CHECHENS BLAME KAZAKH AUTHORITIES AND POLICE FOR COMPLACENCY
This year’s Novruz festivities in Kazakhstan was overshadowed by a surge of large-scale violence between Kazakh and Chechen residents of two villages in the Enbekshiqazaq district of Almaty region. While officials go out of their way to dismiss the incident as an ordinary brawl, Chechen families are indignant over the reluctance by the police and local authorities to handle the conflict fairly.

OPPOSITION LEADER APPOINTED PRIME MINISTER IN KYRGYZSTAN
On March 30, Almazbek Atambaev, one of the leaders of the opposition, assumed the premiership, which indicated President Kurmanbek Bakiev’s willingness to make concessions: to build a coalitional government and review the much-criticized December 2006 constitution. However, the United Front and the coalition For Reforms refused to take up positions in the government, viewing it as a maneuver by the President and stressing its limited power to usher in constitutional reforms.