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October 13, 2017 www.intellinews.com I Page 4
contest at the end of a president's term – provided the country does not plunge itself into another uprising immediately afterwards.
It will be ultimately up to the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe Parliamen- tary Assembly’s (OSCE PA's) observation mission to determine the results of Kyrgyzstan’s 'democ- racy on trial'. OSCE PA has said it will deploy 40 international observers for the poll, including 29 parliamentarians from 22 countries.
The European Union on October 9, meanwhile, gave a mandate to the European Commission and its foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini
Slovak court reopens question of whether Czech election favourite Babis was secret police informer
Slovakia’s Institute of the Nation’s Memory spells double trouble for Slovak-born billionaire- turned-populist politician Andrej Babis in the run-up to the October 20-21 vote. On October 9, Babis, leader of the ANO movement, confirmed police had charged him with fraud in the Capi hnizdo (Stork Nest) case centred on a €2.3mn EU subsidy obtained a decade ago. Analysts will watch closely to see if the latest blow to Babis dents ANO's popularity in the opinion polls.
However, with the latest surveys showing only a slight reduction in the party's popularity since news broke of the Stork Nest charges, some ob- servers are wondering whether the eurosceptic, anti-immigrant Babis has Donald Trump-like Tef- lon qualities, as nothing seems to stick. That was also the case in the spring when he was fired from
to negotiate a new political deal between the bloc and Kyrgyzstan after the election is over and done with. The new accord would replace the Partner- ship and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) dating back to 1999.
The new Brussels-Bishkek "partnership" is to be based on Kyrgyzstan's "commitment to undertake reforms to strengthen democracy, fundamental freedoms, the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary, and to promote sustainable econom- ic development.” The optimists and pessimists will both be watching closely. This one could go either way.
his post in the ruling coalition as finance minister amid claims he had exploited a loophole to evade taxes, using bonds issued by his Agrofert corpo- ration, the country’s largest private employer.
The Slovak Institute of the Nation’s Memory, which holds parts of 63-year-old Babis’ se- cret-police files, claims there is evidence that Babis was an informer working for the plain- clothes secret police force, State Security (StB), which operated during the four-decade-long Communist-era former Czechoslovakia.
Babis refutes the allegation and Slovak courts have previously ruled that there was no proof of its veracity. The Constitutional Court verdict returns that question to a re- gional court in Babis' city of birth, Bratislava.
The institute's claims centre on the 1980s when Babis was a member of the Czechoslovak rul- ing Communist party and a representative of
a state foreign trade company. Responding
via his spokeswoman after the verdict was re- leased, Babis stated: “I never signed collabora- tion with the StB and never collaborated with the StB.” He added: “Of course I am bothered that this issue is returning to the beginning after five years and will be abused in a politi-