Eurasia Insight:
KYRYGZSTAN’S PARLIAMENT ELECTS NEW SPEAKER
Sarah Miller-Davenport: 3/02/06

After much political wrangling, Kyrgyzstan’s parliament on March 2 elected Marat Sultanov to serve as the legislature’s new speaker. Some political analysts in Bishkek believe Sultanov’s selection will not put an end to the bickering between parliament and President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, saying the underlying cause of the rivalry between the legislative and executive branches remains unaddressed.

Sultanov, 44, was elected on the fourth round of balloting, which began March 1. His candidacy reportedly enjoyed Bakiyev’s support, Russian media reported. The election closed one of the stormiest chapters in Kyrgyzstan’s post-revolutionary political development. The trouble began February 3, when Bakiyev accused parliament of inertia, adding that deputies had “embarked on a collision course” with the executive branch. The president’s comments prompted an “emotional” response from then-speaker Omurbek Tekebayev, who suggested that Bakiyev should kill himself. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. Tekebayev’s comments created a furor, and he eventually stepped down.

The new speaker has a background in finance. Sultanov began working at the National Bank in 1992, rising to the post of chairman by 1994. From 1998-99, he served as finance minister in former president Askar Akayev’s administration. He has been a member of parliament since 2000.

Tekebayev’s departure raises the chance that the frayed presidential-parliamentary relationship can be repaired. Tekebayev had been one of Bakiyev’s chief antagonists. At the same time, he wasn’t the only presidential critic in parliament. And the installation of a new speaker does little to address the main source of contention concerning the balance of power between the legislative and executive branches, experts say.

Kyrgyzstan’s existing constitution, adopted by referendum in 2003, was designed to solidify Akayev’s grip on the country’s political and economic life, and thus heavily favors presidential authority. In the months immediately following Kyrgyzstan’s revolution in 2005, Bakiyev, then acting as the provisional chief executive, embraced the idea of amending the constitution to significantly enhance legislative powers. Since his election as president, however, Bakiyev has backtracked on constitutional reform. Over the same period, MPs, led by Tekebayev, became more determined in their drive to secure greater authority for the legislature.

An effort by the presidential administration and MPs, along with input from NGO activists, to hammer out a new constitutional framework ended in failure. Under parliamentary pressure, Bakiyev signed a decree in January that paved the way for a nationwide referendum on constitutional changes to be held at a to-be-determined date later this year.

Many MPs remain suspicious of Bakiyev’s intentions, given the memory of how Akayev manipulated the 2003 constitutional referendum. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. Such concerns have been enhanced by signs that Russia may be throwing its diplomatic support behind the concept of a presidential republic along the lines of that which exists in Moscow. The view among some analysts is that Kyrgyzstan needs a strong executive system in order to reestablish a sense of economic order in the country. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

“A year passed since the [Kyrgyz] revolution, but still there is no understanding of what kind of state it is", said Alexei Malashenko, a political expert at the Moscow Carnegie Center, in comments published by the Regnum news agency. “To help Kyrgyzstan out - and it must certainly be helped out - one needs a tough, responsible and decisive politician. ... Kyrgyzstan has a lot of democracy but has no economy to prop it up. The country has no leader.”

As president and parliament focus on their own political interests, Kyrgyzstan is growing increasingly chaotic. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. It appears that the country’s economy is currently sustained by the rent paid by the United States for use of the Manas airbase outside Bishkek, and by migrant laborers, who are finding jobs in neighboring states, especially energy-rich Kazakhstan, and are remitting funds back to family members.

An article published February 15 by the Russian daily Kommersant quotes Bakiyev as saying the United States agreed to a new rent deal for the Manas base, under which it pays $200 million per year. Under the previous agreement, Washington gave Bishkek $2 million for Manas access. Meanwhile, Bakiyev revealed in the same article that Russia does not pay anything for its use of the Kant air base, also outside Bishkek.