By Marat Yermukanov (5/30/2007 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Far-reaching constitutional amendments announced by President Nursultan Nazarbayev on May 17 at the joint session of the senate and majilis (lower chamber) of parliament are held up by the governing elite as a historic milestone in political reform efforts of Kazakhstan. While Nazarbayev-engineered amendments to the fundamental law of the country may not go beyond usual face-liftings within an authoritarian system, they are likely to raise Kazakhstan’s profile in the eyes of the outside world.

In an amazingly rare haste, on May 18 the usually sluggish Kazakh Parliament almost unanimously approved constitutional amendments proposed by Nursultan Nazarbayev at the session of Parliament only a day earlier.

By Maruf Kandikov (5/30/2007 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Tajik Air, the largest state-owned air company is on the verge of bankruptcy due to economic pressure and competition created by foreign companies. The company’s largest problems are an artificial deficit of tickets, high prices, a low standard of service in the air and on the ground, and bribery.

There is an urgent need for a reorganization of the company, for which substantial funding and a significant number of adequate specialists is necessary.

By Haroutiun Khachatrian (4/19/2007 issue of the CACI Analyst)

The main intrigue of the May 12 parliamentary elections of Armenia will evidently be if the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), which has been the core of the government since 1999,  will keep its leading position or will share its powers with another “party of power.”

The RPA was founded in 1990 by a group of activists of nationalist ideology led by Ashot Navasardian, a Soviet-era dissident. Its official ideology is so-called tseghakron (stands for “nation-religion”) of Garegin Nzhdeh – a prominent political figure of the first half of 20^th century who died in the Gulags in 1955.