EurasiaNet Eurasia Insight - Kyrgyzstan: Planned Revolution Anniversary Festivities Divide Citizens

EURASIA INSIGHT

KYRGYZSTAN: PLANNED REVOLUTION ANNIVERSARY FESTIVITIES DIVIDE CITIZENS
3/16/06

Editor's Note: Updating to clarify quote in ninth paragraph.

A presidential decree making the anniversary of Kyrgyzstan’s revolution a national holiday is fueling political tension. Members of President Kurmanbek Bakiyev’s team hope the planned nationwide celebrations March 24 will bolster the administration’s legitimacy. But many citizens, in particular the country’s entrepreneurial class, have denounced the decree, saying it is inappropriate to celebrate an event associated with looting, destruction of property and criminality.

President Kurmanbek Bakiyev signed the decree on March 6. It authorizes festivities on March 24, including parades, folk performances, and traditional horse races, in Kyrgyzstan’s largest cities. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. It also provides for the raising of a monument commemorating the revolution in the southern city of Jalal-Abad, which was the first center of resistance to ousted president Askar Akayev. A special governmental committee is handling event planning. President Bakiyev labeled the holiday the "Triumph of Justice Day," and urged parliament to introduce a law "to perpetuate the historical significance of Kyrgyz people’s victory."

Parliament and the president have feuded for much of 2006 over constitutional issues. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. Given the public sensitivities concerning the revolution anniversary, legislators balked at endorsing the decree. So far, observers say, the decree has succeeded only in widening a political divide among Kyrgyz citizens.

Pro-government newspapers, such as Vecherny Bishkek and Moya Stolitsa Novosti, have supported the presidential decree. It has also gained the backing of some noteworthy Bakiyev political rivals, including Dooronbek Sadyrbayev and Azimbek Beknazarov. In its March 7 edition, Vecherny Bishkek blasted legislators for not immediately endorsing Bakiyev’s decree. "We will celebrate 24 March even if the Akayev parliament is against it," read one editorial. Another commentary in the same issue stated: "The deputies offended people. By denying revolution, they are denying themselves."

Meanwhile, business leaders in Bishkek have condemned the move. "We regard this idea [celebrations honoring March 24th] as offensive to all of us," said Burulkan Usubakunova, a representative of an association of entrepreneurs who were victimized by the rioting that accompanied political change last year.

"The mass looting and destruction of property that took place from March 24th to March 25th last year cost around $100 million," Usubakunova said. "More than 1,000 shops, enterprises, and offices were looted and damaged. Some victims [of looting and destruction of property] were forced to leave Kyrgyzstan, fleeing creditors." She added that the government had failed to honor commitments to compensate entrepreneurs for their losses.

Irina, a sales representative in a Bishkek shop lamented at economic costs of the holiday. She told EurasiaNet: "It is unethical to celebrate when so many people suffered [on March 24th]. The festivities will cost a lot of money. They [the Kyrgyz authorities] should instead compensate losses of those who suffered.

Baktybek Sadyrbaev, an Osh-based entrepreneur told EurasiaNet: "Officials continue to extort bribes, the police continue to harass people, and the economy is doing badly. Our people have been used by one group of power-mongers to topple another one. There is no difference between them."

Responding to the business community’s complaints, Beknazarov, a member of parliament, maintained that the political changes ought to be seen as separate from the rioting and looting that occurred. "What happened on March 24th was a genuine revolution. What happened after it is another issue," the AKIpress news agency quoted Beknazarov as saying March 15.

A few prominent news outlets have criticized the decree. "Bakiyev’s efforts to celebrate the March 24 anniversary show the president’s detachment from society. Behind the spectacle of the upcoming events, there is a deep disappointment with the regime among both the urban and rural population," said an editorial distributed by AKIpress on March 15.

Indeed, Bakiyev’s popularity has plummeted in recent months. Observers suggest that Bakiyev’s recent squabbles with parliament has fueled popular perceptions that he more concerned with accumulating power than he is in addressing Kyrgyzstan’s social and economic ills. President critics have also damaged Bakiyev’s image with increasingly vociferous accusations that last year’s revolution was actually a coup. Several weekly newspapers, including Apta Janyryg, Mezgil, and Alas, published commentaries in early March advancing the accusation. In addition, some private TV-stations, such as STS and Pyramida, have aired a steady stream of programs critical of Bakiyev’s performance.

An oppositionist website, Analitik.kg, published a poll purporting that over 80 percent of those questioned viewed the March 2005 events as a coup. Meanwhile, a prominent journalist, Aleksandr Knyazev, published a book, titled The 2005 Coup d’Etat in Kyrgyzstan, in which he argued; "The symbol of the Kyrgyz revolution was not a tulip flower, but a looter with a refrigerator on his back."

Akayev has even chimed in from exile. In a statement published by the weekly Bely Parokhod on March 10, the disgraced former president claimed that "disarray in the upper echelons of power characterize the worsening of the socio-economic situation. ... A national catastrophe awaits us."

A political source familiar with the government’s thinking, speaking on condition of anonymity, told EurasiaNet that the administration hopes the celebration will boost its sagging legitimacy and public support. The source also indicated that the administration sought to use the planned military parade as a show of force, designed to deter political opponents from engaging in activity that could further erode the government’s authority. Rumors have swept Kyrgyzstan in recent weeks that Bakiyev opponents are planning political action in connection with the revolution anniversary.

Bakiyev said anyone attempting to disrupt the March 24 festivities would be dealt with harshly. "If there are individuals who try to spoil the holiday, we will take adequate measures against them," he said. "Any disorder will be regarded as a coup attempt."

The decree appears to have aggravated Kyrgyzstan’s regional rivalry. Many in Bishkek continue to blame the March 24 looting on southerners who swarmed into the capital on March 24 to join in the anti-Akayev protests. Northerners, especially Bishkek residents, have been unsettled by the rapid influx of southerners, who have spontaneously seized land on the outskirts of the capital. The inability of the Bakiyev administration to address this issue has helped to keep North-South tension at a high level over the past year. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

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