RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 3, No. 5, 00-01-07

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RFE/RL NEWSLINE

Vol. 3, No. 5, 7 January 2000

CONTENTS

[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

[01] AZERBAIJANI OPPOSITION CALL ON GOVERMENT TO REGISTER

[02] CHECHENS RECEIVING MEDICAL TREATMENT IN AZERBAIJAN

[03] GEORGIA REJECTS NEW RUSSIAN ACCUSATIONS

[04] KAZAKH MIG SALE TRIAL OPENS, ADJOURNS

[05] KAZAKH OPPOSITION PARTY WANTS EUROPEAN BODIES TO MEDIATE

[06] THIRD KYRGYZ ELECTORAL ALLIANCE FORGED

[07] KYRGYZSTAN'S AFGHAN VETERANS HOLD FOUNDING CONGRESS

[08] NOMINATION OF PARLIAMENTARY CANDIDATES IN TAJIKISTAN

[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

[09] GRANIC VOWS TO MAKE CROATIA 'NICE'

[10] RACAN SAYS NOT ALL COALITION PARTNERS EQUAL

[11] IN-FIGHTING CONTINUES WITHIN HDZ

[12] UN OFFICIALS TELL HERZEGOVINIANS TO FACE 'NEW REALITY'

[13] SESELJ WARNS MONTENEGRO

[14] RIVAL MONTENEGRIN CHRISTMAS CELEBRATIONS PASS PEACEFULLY

[15] MONTENEGRIN PRIME MINISTER SAYS NO DECISION ON DINAR

[16] SERBIAN COURT FREES FOUR KOSOVARS

[17] BELGRADE ADMITS HIGHER CASUALTIES IN KOSOVA CONFLICT

[18] SLOVENIAN DIPLOMAT NAMED TO KEY UN POST

[19] ROMANIA SETS UP NATO INTEGRATION COMMISSION

[20] ROMANIA, ISRAEL TO BOOST MILITARY COOPERATION

[21] MOLDOVAN RUSSIAN-LANGUAGE DAILY WARNED BY AUTHORITIES

[C] END NOTE

[22] Karimov Will Stay in Office, But Recent Elections Send Mixed

[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

[01] AZERBAIJANI OPPOSITION CALL ON GOVERMENT TO REGISTER

In a joint statement, 14 Azerbaijani

opposition parties have called on the government to register

the Azerbaijan Democratic Party, Turan reported on 6 January.

The party, which has an estimated 20,000 members and six

parliament deputies, had its registration revoked without

explanation in 1995, just three years after receiving it. A

group of 19 parliament deputies has asked the Council of

Europe to take the situation into account during its

assessment of Azerbaijan's application for full membership in

the council, Turan reported on 4 January. LF

[02] CHECHENS RECEIVING MEDICAL TREATMENT IN AZERBAIJAN

Chechens injured in Russian artillery attacks are being

treated in hospitals in Azerbaijan under the terms of a 1997

agreement between the Azerbaijani and Chechen health

authorities, Interfax reported on 6 January, quoting

independent Azerbaijani media. Interfax also reported that

the wife and three children of former Chechen acting

President Zelimkhan Yandarbiev left Baku on 5 January for an

unnamed Arab country. According to "Moskovskie novosti" No.

50, Yandarbiev's family had been living incognito in Baku

since early December, after leaving Chechnya for Georgia. The

press center of the Eastern Group of Russian Forces in

Chechnya on 7 January claimed that three leading Chechen

figures, including former Foreign Minister Movladi Udugov,

are currently in Baku, according to Caucasus Press.

Azerbaijan's National Security Ministry has denied the

report. LF

[03] GEORGIA REJECTS NEW RUSSIAN ACCUSATIONS

military press release also accused Georgia of allowing the

Chechens to establish a "springboard" in Georgia for military

actions in Chechnya. It further claimed that leading Chechen

field commanders had traveled to Georgia to recruit members

of the former paramilitary organization Mkhedrioni. Georgian

Foreign Ministry spokesman Avtandil Napetvaridze on 7 January

rejected the Russian claims as slanderous and unfounded,

according to Caucasus Press. Mkhedrioni Political Secretary

Tornike Berishvili also denied that any of his organization's

members intend to fight on the side of the Chechens. LF

[04] KAZAKH MIG SALE TRIAL OPENS, ADJOURNS

two men accused of arranging the illegal sale of some 40 MiG

fighter aircraft to North Korea began in Almaty on 6 January

but was immediately adjourned for four days at the request of

defendant and Chief of General Staff Bakhytzhan Ertaev,

Interfax reported. Six of the MiGs were intercepted in Baku

in March, and Defense Minister Mukhtar Altynbaev and National

Security Committee Chairman Nurtai Abykaev were dismissed in

August for their suspected role in the deal (see "RFE/RL

Newsline," 10 August 1999). In November, Ertaev was named as

a witness in the case. Semen Ginzburg, a lawyer for

businessman Aleksandr Petrenko who is Ertaev's co-defendant,

claimed that former Kazakh Prime Minister Nurlan Balghymbaev

had approved the sale of the aircraft, RFE/RL's Almaty

correspondent reported. In August, Balghymbaev said in Tokyo

that the Kazakh government "had nothing to do" with the sale

of the MiGs to North Korea (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 23 August

1999). LF

[05] KAZAKH OPPOSITION PARTY WANTS EUROPEAN BODIES TO MEDIATE

The Republican People's Party of

Kazakhstan has called for a dialogue between the country's

authorities and the opposition, with the EU and the OSCE

acting as mediators, senior party member Bigeldin Gabdullin

told Interfax on 6 January. Gabdullin said the European

organizations should serve as guarantors of any agreement

reached during those talks. He added that both organizations

have indicated their willingness to do so but are waiting for

a formal response from the Kazakh leadership. LF

[06] THIRD KYRGYZ ELECTORAL ALLIANCE FORGED

and film director Dooronbek Sadyrbaev said on 6 January in

Bishkek that his Kairan-EL Party, which was founded in July

1999, will form an electoral bloc with the Agrarian-Labor

Party in advance of the 20 February parliamentary elections,

RFE/RL's bureau in the Kyrgyz capital reported. Two pro-

government social-democratic parties forged an electoral

alliance in late December, and two opposition parties agreed

to do so earlier this week (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 3 and 6

January 2000). At a congress in Bishkek on 5 January, the

Erkin Kyrgyzstan party drew up a party list of 15 candidates

and named eight other candidates who will run in single-

mandate constituencies. LF

[07] KYRGYZSTAN'S AFGHAN VETERANS HOLD FOUNDING CONGRESS

Party of War Veterans, which was registered with the Justice

Ministry in August 1999, held its founding congress in

Bishkek on 6 January, Interfax reported. The party's aims are

to encourage reform within the armed forces and to combat

corruption. LF

[08] NOMINATION OF PARLIAMENTARY CANDIDATES IN TAJIKISTAN

The Adolatkhokh (Justice) Party on 6 January

nominated 22 candidates to contest the 27 February election

to the lower chamber of the new Tajik parliament, Asia Plus-

Blitz and ITAR-TASS reported. It was the last of the six

parties contending the poll to do so. The candidates include

parliament deputies Sulton Kuvvatov and Saifiddin Turaev,

both of whom were barred from running in the November 1999

presidential election on the grounds that they failed to

collect the required number of nomination signatures (see

"RFE/RL Newsline," 13 October 1999). LF

[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

[09] GRANIC VOWS TO MAKE CROATIA 'NICE'

Granic, who is the presidential candidate of the Croatian

Democratic Community (HDZ), told Reuters on 6 January that he

will seek to make his country internationally respectable if

he is elected on 24 January (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 6 January

2000). He hopes to turn Croatia into a "nice country that

foreigners will come to with pleasure." Granic pledged to

respect the sovereignty of Bosnia-Herzegovina, to cooperate

with the Hague-based war crimes tribunal, to ensure the

freedom of the media, and to enable the return of ethnic

Serbian refugees, whom he stressed "are welcome." The

international community repeatedly criticized the outgoing

HDZ government and late President Franjo Tudjman for failing

to do these things. PM

[10] RACAN SAYS NOT ALL COALITION PARTNERS EQUAL

Minister-designate Ivica Racan told "Jutarnji list" of 7

January that the parties represented in the small coalition

of four opposition parties will not have a voice equal in the

new government to that of his coalition of two larger

parties. Racan stressed that it would be a "negation of the

results of the election" to give tiny parties an equal voice

in making decisions as parties that won tens of thousands

more votes. He described demands by the four that the new

government reach all decisions by consensus as

"unacceptable." Racan added that Drazen Budisa, who is the

presidential candidate of Racan's coalition, is likely to

defeat Granic easily provided that Budisa "makes no mistakes"

(see "RFE/RL Newsline," 5 January 2000). Elsewhere, the prime

minister-designate called on the directors of all state-run

companies to offer their resignations to the new government.

PM

[11] IN-FIGHTING CONTINUES WITHIN HDZ

of the defeated governing party have publicly blamed each

other for the HDZ's losses in the 3 January parliamentary

vote, "Jutarnji list" reported on 7 January. Ivic Pasalic,

who leads the hard-line Herzegovinian faction, did not blame

any of his rivals by name but stressed that the party would

not have lost as badly as it did if it had been more decisive

and nominated its presidential candidate immediately after

Tudjman's death. Observers note that the major reason for the

party failure to act quickly was that Vladimir Seks, who is

Pasalic's main rival to head the party's hard-liners, refused

to leave the presidential field open to Granic. Pasalic

backed Granic for the nomination in an effort to wrong-foot

his rival. PM

[12] UN OFFICIALS TELL HERZEGOVINIANS TO FACE 'NEW REALITY'

Roberts, who is a UN spokesman in Bosnia, said in Sarajevo on

6 January that hard-line Croatian nationalists in Herzegovina

should realize that their future is with Bosnia and not with

Croatia. He stressed that the new Croatian government will

not support their nationalist ambitions as its predecessor

did (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 5 January 2000). "This is a new

reality. And hard-core political leaders who say differently

are deluding the people of their real interests," AP quoted

him as saying. His superior, Jacques Klein, added that the

Croats of Bosnia-Herzegovina should concentrate their

energies on developing institutions to defend their interests

within that republic. PM

[13] SESELJ WARNS MONTENEGRO

Vojislav Seselj said in Belgrade on 6 January that federal

authorities should "intervene using all available means" if

Montenegro seeks to secede. Yugoslav President Slobodan

Milosevic recently told Montenegrins to make up their minds

whether they want to remain in the federation or go it alone

(see "RFE/RL Newsline," 3 January 2000). PM

[14] RIVAL MONTENEGRIN CHRISTMAS CELEBRATIONS PASS PEACEFULLY

and of its rival, the Montenegrin Orthodox Church, held

separate ceremonies in Cetinje to mark Orthodox Christmas

Eve. The two ceremonies, which centered on the lighting of

Yule logs, passed without incident. Several political leaders

from the governing Democratic Party of Socialists and the

People's Party attended the Serbian Church's function, as did

representatives of the pro-Milosevic Socialist People's

Party. Some leaders of the independence-minded governing

Social Democratic Party and opposition Liberal Alliance were

present at the rival Montenegrin Orthodox ceremony, RFE/RL's

South Slavic Service reported. The Belgrade-based Serbian

Church does not recognize its younger rival. PM

[15] MONTENEGRIN PRIME MINISTER SAYS NO DECISION ON DINAR

Vujanovic said in Podgorica on 7 January that the government

has reached no decision on making the German mark the sole

legal tender in Montenegro, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service

reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 6 January 2000). PM

[16] SERBIAN COURT FREES FOUR KOSOVARS

from Belgrade's Humanitarian Law Fund, told Reuters on 6

January that a court in Pozarevac has released four ethnic

Albanians after dismissing charges against them. "I was very

surprised. It was a rare case because [all the charges were

dropped].... Normally they issue a conviction at least to

cover the time already spent in jail." Representatives of the

international Red Cross escorted the four back to Kosova.

They had been arrested on 6 July 1998 on charges of attacking

a column of police vehicles. The men maintained that they

were innocent and that police had rounded them up

indiscriminately. Pozarevac is the home town of the Milosevic

family. PM

[17] BELGRADE ADMITS HIGHER CASUALTIES IN KOSOVA CONFLICT

latest issue of the army magazine "Vojska" reports that the

Yugoslav army lost 524 dead and 33 missing in the spring 1999

conflict with NATO, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported on

6 January. In June, Milosevic admitted losses of 462 soldiers

and officers. Private estimates of the army's casualties run

much higher. PM

[18] SLOVENIAN DIPLOMAT NAMED TO KEY UN POST

Slovenia's ambassador to the UN and an expert on

international law, was named assistant UN secretary general

for political affairs on 6 January. In 1998 and 1999, when

Slovenia held a rotating seat on the Security Council, he

represented his country in the UN's highest body. He acquired

a reputation for thoughtful analysis, AP reported. Slovenia's

new ambassador to the UN will be Ernest Petric, who is state

secretary for foreign affairs. PM

[19] ROMANIA SETS UP NATO INTEGRATION COMMISSION

on 6 January set up an inter-ministerial commission to

coordinate measures aimed at NATO integration, RFE/RL's

Bucharest bureau reported. The Foreign Ministry will

coordinate the commission, which will include deputy

ministers from other ministries. The commission will work out

proposals for Romania's annual National Program for NATO

Integration. MS

[20] ROMANIA, ISRAEL TO BOOST MILITARY COOPERATION

Defense Minister Victor Babiuc and Israeli Deputy Defense

Minister Efraim Sneh agreed in Tel Aviv to finalize a

"framework agreement on military cooperation" in the first

half of 2000 and to initiate joint research programs on

military industries. Sneh proposed that Israel set up

separate facilities for the modernization of helicopters and

armored vehicles in Brasov, Romania. Finally, the Defense

Ministry on 6 January released document titled "White Book--

Romania's Army in 2010," Mediafax reported. The document

envisages the transformation of the army's Rapid Reaction

Force, which was set up in 1997, into "the main nucleus of

Romania's future modernized army." MS

[21] MOLDOVAN RUSSIAN-LANGUAGE DAILY WARNED BY AUTHORITIES

Prosecutor General's Office has warned "Kommersant Moldova"

that it may order the newspaper to be shut down for using

terms "directed against Moldova's statehood," ITAR-TASS

reported on 7 January. The office says the newspaper's use of

terms such as "The Transdniester Moldovan Republic" and "the

Supreme Soviet of the Transdniester region" amounts to the

propagation of separatism and the implicit recognition of a

second state on Moldovan territory. The office says that the

paper has thereby violated the constitution, which defines

Moldova as a "sovereign, single, and indivisible state." MS

[C] END NOTE

[22] Karimov Will Stay in Office, But Recent Elections Send Mixed

By Abdumannob Polat

In an environment in which opposition parties are

banned, freedom of expression is restricted, and public life

is marked by high levels of fear and intimidation,

Uzbekistan's incumbent President Islam Karimov is expected to

win re-election on 9 January. It is widely believed that

Karimov determined the rules of the current race, including

the selection of his only opponent. During the recent

parliamentary vote on 5 December, Uzbek citizens were allowed

to choose among representatives of local governments, five

official parties and some independent candidates endorsed by

the authorities, though all those candidates supported

Karimov and his government. No independent parties were

allowed to participate.

The OSCE judged the recent parliamentary elections in

Uzbekistan to be far from democratic and sent only a small

group to assess them, rather than a full-fledged observer

mission. Now, the organization has come to the conclusion

that the upcoming presidential election will be even less

democratic, and has decided not to send any observers at all.

The U.S. has issued even stronger criticism.

The parliamentary elections could nonetheless be

considered a potentially positive, though small, step in the

long term, if the regime were to start tolerating more

openness and criticism. However, the way the current

presidential race is developing gives little hope of that.

Karimov is willing to tolerate some competition among

his own supporters for seats in the puppet parliament, but

when it comes to his own post the playing field is anything

but level. For example, Karimov's opponent Abdulkhafiz

Jalolov (Dzhalolov) has much less access to the media than

the incumbent. Jalolov heads the Khalq Demokratik (Peoples

Democratic, former Communist) Party, which used to be the

ruling party. Karimov himself was leader of the party until

June 1996.

All five political parties registered in Uzbekistan were

created on Karimov's initiative, and they fully support him

and his government. Most independent observers say Karimov

personally selected Jalolov as the 'alternative' candidate.

Milliy Tiklanish (National Rebirth), another pro-government

party, also attempted to name its own presidential candidate.

But it failed to collect the required number of signatures

and ended up supporting Karimov's candidacy.

Uzbek government propaganda claims that such actions

demonstrate that both these parties are independent. However,

the nomination for the presidential race has more in common

with the pre-1940 rules for World Chess competitions, in

which the defending champion enjoyed the right to choose the

individual with whom they would compete in order to keep

their title. However, unlike the Chess Champions of old,

Karimov is not ready for a fair fight, even with an opponent

he has selected himself. The nomination of an alternative,

puppet candidate for president does not indicate that the

party backing Karimov's opponent is an opposition party.

Moreover, the presence of such an "alternative" candidate

lends a false "democratic" image to the race.

At the same time, the alternative candidate is clearly

calling for more democracy, freedom of expression, and an

independent legislature, judiciary, and media, while at the

same time trying to avoid direct criticism of the current

president's policies. Uzbekistan certainly needs more

openness and tolerance to maintain a balance between peace

and stability on one side and urgent reforms on the other.

Until recently, Karimov enjoyed significant credit in

eyes of the Uzbek population and the international community

for his success in preserving peace and stability in his

country. However, he did not implement much-needed market and

democratic reforms. The resulting deep economic crisis and

increase in corruption have disillusioned many people. Most

peasants, who are still members of state-run collective

farms, have not received their salaries in years. Land is

still owned by the collective farms and the state, which also

controls the sporadic water supply.

Today, most Uzbeks -- including teachers, university

professors, and physicians -- earn enough just enough money to

pay for bread and tea, the traditional fare of poor people.

This contrasts sharply with the extravagant life styles of a

small group of top government officials and a new class

businesspeople, who are mostly relatives of the government

officials.

Although such social disparities and the generally poor

economic situation in Uzbekistan are comparable to the

conditions in other countries of Central Asia, many Uzbeks

hold Karimov personally responsible for the current crisis.

While he has likely exhausted most of his popular credit,

fear of civil strife between the secular government and

Islamic militants still continues to ensure him some level of

support. Many Uzbeks simply view him as the lesser evil.

Karimov's re-election is pre-determined. The government-

manipulated opinion polls have "concluded" that he will

receive 93 to 96 percent of the vote in the election. But it

is not clear if the Uzbek leader will begin implementing the

necessary reforms to open up the country's economic and

political systems and thereby clear the way for the country's

economic development.

(Abdumannob Polat is a director of the

Union of Councils' Central Asian Human Rights Information

Network.)

07-01-00

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URL: http://www.rferl.org

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