Latest Articles about The Caucasus
TWO YEARS INTO THE ROSE REVOLUTION, ECONOMY SHOWS LITTLE CHANGE
This November the Georgian government, including President Mikheil Saakashvili, has repeatedly emphasized the urgent need to improve the country's business environment. The rekindling of this issue hints at the government's increasing concern about the worsening socio-economic situation in the country. Already independent analysts are warning... MORE
AZERBAIJAN’S OPPOSITION SET TO CONTINUE PROTEST RALLIES, BUT TIME IS RUNNING OUT
On Sunday November 13, the Azerbaijani opposition bloc Azadliq (Freedom), which unites the Musavat, Popular Front, and Democratic parties, joined with the Liberal Party and YES election bloc to hold a second protest rally in Baku's Galaba Square. The rally, initially planned for Saturday but... MORE
ARMENIA ADOPTS LANDMARK BUDGET FOR 2006
On November 11 Armenia's parliament approved the national budget for next year. The budget volume is due to exceed $1 billion for the first time in the country's post-Soviet history. The administration of President Robert Kocharian presented the planned 22% increase in government spending as... MORE
OPPOSITION RALLY FAILS TO CHANGE RESULTS OF AZERBAIJAN’S PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS
As was expected in the run-up to last Sunday's vote, Azerbaijani opposition parties have refused to recognize the legitimacy of the November 6 parliamentary election results and have taken to the streets in protest. On November 9, three days after the election, the main opposition... MORE
AZERBAIJAN MOVES SWIFTLY TO ADDRESS ELECTORAL FRAUD COMPLAINTS
Azerbaijan's Central Electoral Commission convened on November 8 to begin considering complaints of electoral fraud in the November 6 parliamentary elections. The CEC ordered recounts of the vote in certain electoral districts where pro-government candidates had purportedly won, and requested the Prosecutor-General's Office to check... MORE
OPENING OF THE POLITICAL SYSTEM DEFINES AZERBAIJAN’S IMPERFECT ELECTIONS
Other than the irregularities that marred the New Azerbaijan Party's (YAP) clear-cut overall victory, ultimately the salient fact in these parliamentary elections is the opening up of the political system. Unsurprisingly, Azerbaijan's political system and most players are insufficiently prepared technically, professionally, and (not least)... MORE
LOW TURNOUT IN AZERBAIJAN SUGGESTS DISAPPOINTMENT WITH ELECTORAL PROCESS
On November 6 Azerbaijanis went to the polls to elect 125 new members of the National Parliament. According to the final numbers from the Central Election Commission (CEC), turnout was close to 47% of all registered voters, a number generally confirmed by local and international... MORE
AZERBAIJANI-UKRAINIAN RELATIONS DETERIORATE AFTER STOLEN ELECTIONS
Ukraine has followed the lead of the OSCE in not recognizing the official results of Azerbaijan's November 6 parliamentary elections. A Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman said, "We support the earlier conclusions of the OSCE observer mission on this question and are awaiting the final verdict... MORE
AZERBAIJAN RESPONSIVE TO ELECTION OBSERVERS’ CRITIQUE DESPITE EXAGGERATIONS
Quite predictably (from past experience, and in a novice parliamentary system) many local irregularities were recorded in Azerbaijan's November 6 parliamentary elections. Equally predictably from all opinion surveys, the irregularities could not affect the clear-cut overall victory of President Ilham Aliyev's Yeni (New) Azerbaijan Party.... MORE
ABKHAZ MILITARY ACCUSED OF FORCIBLY DRAFTING ETHNIC GEORGIANS
Recent developments in Abkhazia, Georgia's breakaway region, do not bode well for the forthcoming Georgian-Abkhaz negotiations scheduled for mid-November in Sukhumi, the capital of Abkhazia. These UN-mediated talks have already been delayed because the sides failed to finalize a draft of a joint Georgian-Abkhaz declaration... MORE