Page 65 - bneMag February 2021_20210202

bne February 2021 Eurasia I 65
Threat to foreign investment
The main downside of a new administration led by a populist may come in the form of a threat to foreign investment. Kyrgyz citizens have long perceived foreign-owned entities as benefiting from Kyrgyzstan’s natural resources such as gold at the expense of the population and the environment. Nationalistic attacks on foreign businesses were observed both during the upheaval in October during the fall of the Sooranbai Jeenbekov presidency and in other instances in recent years.
The fervent nationalist Japarov’s rise to power was met with concern by the US embassy in Bishkek last October. The mission referred to the political developments as amounting to a threat posed to democracy in Kyrgyzstan from organised crime.
Over 80% of voters also supported a constitutional reform proposal to grant sweeping powers to the president at the
expense of parliament. The reform is set to enter force by June.
Fears of authoritarianism
The changes to the constitution may put an end to Kyrgyzstan’s ambitions to remain a parliamentary democracy, which was originally formed to prevent the potential rise of a new dictator after Askar Akayev and Kurmanbek Bakiyev’s regimes were toppled in 2005 and 2010, respectively. Critics fear the constitutional changes could empower the presidency to operate in an authoritarian manner.
In late November, hundreds took to the streets in Bishkek to protest against the proposal to alter the constitution – sometimes referred to by opponents as the “Khanstitution”.
Japarov, sometimes known as the “Kyrgyz Donald Trump”, faced off against 16 presidential poll rivals, but his victory, along with the constitutional changes, may disguise a weak level of
support for him across Kyrgyzstan given the low turnout. Extreme cold was blamed by officials for keeping many voters away from the polling stations.
“I am assuming power at a time of hardship and crisis,” Japarov said following the announcement of his victory. “One or two years will not be enough to fix everything, we can do it in three or four years and it will require stability.”
"There will be no dictatorship as some scaremongers say. There will be a dictatorship of law and justice," Japarov added, borrowing a phrase from Russian leader Vladimir Putin, whose country
is a key ally for Kyrgyzstan, where it has a military base.
Despite all the talk of stability, Japarov’s presidency may not fare well in a country all too used to solving political conflict violently – especially if Japarov attempts to succeed where Akayev and Bakiyev have already failed.
Fallout from execution of dissident journalist scuppers Iran-Europe business forum
bne IntelIiNews
Iran has executed Ruhollah Zam,
a journalist who ran the anti- government website Amad News, which the Islamic Republic said he used to incite the country’s 2017-18 protests.
Zam (pictured), 47, was hanged on December 12 after the supreme court upheld a death sentence against him, Iranian state television reported. The son of a previously high-ranking pro- reform Shia cleric, Zam, who was living in exile in Paris after being granted political asylum, was according to BBC Persian, detained after being lured
to Iraq last year to meet the grand Ayatollah Sistani in the hope of securing his support. BBC Persian wrote: “Upon his arrest, the intelligence wing of Iran's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) posted news of its success on Amad News –
the very platform on Telegram which Zam used to subvert the regime, incite disobedience and criticise opponents whom he viewed as being too soft.”
Zam became a household name in Iran, using his network – which had more than a million followers on Telegram, an encrypted messaging app – to
share videos of protests and damaging information about Iranian officials. It was removed by Telegram for breaching the company's rules on posting dangerous content, but later reopened under a different name.
The IRGC claimed that Zam was "under the guidance" and protection of intelligence services in France, Israel and the US. Zam fled Iran in the wake of anti-government protests in 2009,
saying he had been falsely accused of working with foreign intelligence services.
Zam was convicted of “corruption on Earth”, to which he pleaded not guilty.
Ruhollah Zam. Photo: MojNews
www.bne.eu