EurasiaNet Eurasia Insight - Dual Power Scenario Looms in Kyrgyzstan

EURASIA INSIGHT

DUAL POWER SCENARIO LOOMS IN KYRGYZSTAN
Daniel Sershen 11/06/06

Political developments in Kyrgyzstan took a confrontational turn on November 6, as opposition MPs tried to establish a rump parliament. The move heralded a potentially destabilizing period of "dual power" in the Central Asian state.

A blocking majority of Kyrgyzstan’s 75 MPs had been boycotting parliament, leaving President Kurmanbek Bakiyev unable to push through constitutional changes that would largely keep a strong presidency in place. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. Opposition leaders sought to turn the tables on the president late on November 6 by attempting to gather a quorum of 51 deputies to enact amendments that would drastically curtail executive powers.

The opposition effort stalled when they managed to attract only 45 MPs to a special session � six short of a quorum, the 24.kg news agency reported. Even so, the attempt represented a significant strengthening of opposition pressure on Bakiyev. Ironically, the future actions of MPs aligned with former president Askar Akayev, who was ousted in March 2005 in the so-called Tulip Revolution could determine the outcome of the present power struggle.

Earlier on November 6, Bakiyev dismissed acting Minister of Internal Affairs Osmonali Guronov in a bid to check the momentum of an ongoing opposition protest in Bishkek. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. The move came after riot police guarding the offices of the presidential administration refused to obey Guronov’s order to maintain a cordon outside the compound’s fence.

The interior minister’s dismissal was one of several demands being advanced by the For Reforms coalition, which is leading the protests in Central Bishkek. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. The group insists that the protest will continue until all of its goals, including the resignation of the president and Prime Minister Feliks Kulov, are achieved.

Guronov’s replacement, Omurbek Suvanaliyev, is a former Interior Ministry official who is on good terms with many opposition leaders. Addressing the crowd, Suvanaliyev vowed to dismiss the director of Bishkek’s Internal Affairs Office, Moldomusa Kongatiyev, who had also been targeted by the opposition for dismissal.

The cabinet change did not seem to placate For Reforms coalition leaders. "It was a very minor step," Omurbek Abkurakhmanov, a coalition representative, said, referring to Guronov’s dismissal. "But they put in a person who we respect, so that is a good sign."

Opposition strength was buoyed by the November 6 announcement by Turgunbek Kulmurzayev, the governor of the region that surrounds Bishkek, that he supported the effort to force Bakiyev’s resignation, the AKIpress news agency reported.

The opposition protest in Bishkek began November 2 with an estimated 20,000 participants. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. Over the weekend, however, the number of demonstrators dwindled to roughly 2,000. The protest gained strength again on November 6, with the crowd again swelling, according to local estimates.

Reinvigorated, the demonstrators marched on the presidential administration building, known as the White House. Passing the riot police, the crowd pressed right up to the gates of the White House compound, and a few even climbed onto the fence itself. There were no reports of violence, although the atmosphere was more chaotic than previous days’ rallies, with younger protesters hanging from trees and opposition leaders stoking the crowd from a makeshift tribune atop a truck.

The opposition attempt to establish a rump parliament came hours after Bakiyev submitted constitutional proposals that would merely tinker with the existing balance of powers among the branches of government. Presidential aides attempted to portray the proposed changes, which would have shifted some powers from the executive to the legislative branch, as a compromise. "The corrections to the country’s constitution proposed by the president represent the optimal balance between branches of power," State Secretary Adakhan Madumarov said at a press conference.

Abkurakhmanov, the For Reforms representative, was dismissive of Madumarov’s claim, saying that the opposition would not budge from its demand for a parliamentary republic.

Editor�s Note: Daniel Sershen is a freelance journalist based in Bishkek.

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