As Presidential Campaign Opens in Kyrgzystan, Concern about Instability Grows

The reshuffling of Kyrgyzstan's political order appears to be a major factor in an intensifying struggle among members of the political and economic elite for control of some of the country's lucrative assets. Some political analysts believe the property redistribution issue has the potential to spark civil strife.

Kyrgyzstan has experienced several episodes of political-economic violence in recent days, most notably the June 10 killing of MP Jyrgalbek Surabaldiyev, an entrepreneur who was considered a close political ally of former president Askar Akayev. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. Surabaldiyev's daughter, Elvira, alleged that prior to the murder, officials approached her father and tried to pressure him into selling a variety of businesses.

In the southern city of Osh, another MP with considerable financial holdings, Bayaman Erkinbayev, figured prominently in two days of protests. A crowd of several hundred protesters, claiming that Erkinbayev had ties to organized crime, tried to storm the Alai Hotel, where Erkinbayev has a business office. Armed security guards allegedly opened fire as they defended the building against the attack, leaving six people wounded. The next day hundreds of Erkinbayev supporters, some of them armed, gathered at the hotel, while nearby a smaller group of protesters congregated.

On June 14, Erkinbayev accused interim President Kurmanbek Bakiyev's chief of staff, Usen Sydykov, of organizing the attempted storming of the hotel. "It was not us who opened fire first, but them," the AKIpress news agency quoted Erkinbayev as saying, referring to the June 13 shooting incident outside the hotel. Some local analysts attribute the Osh disturbances to a turf struggle. "Someone clearly wants to remove Bayaman Erkinbayev from his position," Samira Sharipova, an Osh journalist, told the Kabar news agency.

Naryn Province has also been the scene of controversy concerning property redistribution efforts. In early June, supporters of Nurlan Motuyev, a prominent local politician, launched an effort to wrestle control of a coal mine and related facilities from Kamchybek Joldoshbayev, who is viewed locally as backer of former president Akayev. Motuyev supporters contend that the facilities were improperly privatized, and thus Joldoshbayev's ownership of the enterprises should be invalidated.

Recent events have reinforced the impression among some Kyrgyz political observers that members of the country's new political order may be attempting to use their influence to gain control over economic assets, much in the way that Akayev loyalists are said to have used their administrative positions to accumulate wealth. The violence in Bishkek and Osh has also raised concerns that the period leading up to the July 10 special election could prove destabilizing for the country. [For additional information see the Eurasia Insight archive].

Writing in the MSN daily, the editor, Alexander Kim, warned that the clashes in Osh could be "only the beginning" of a tumultuous political transition. "The use of guns by one side [in Osh] implies that the other side may also use them (guns) to settle disputes," Kim wrote.