Kyrgyzstan: Opposition and President Spar before National Conclave

In an attempt to generate momentum for his administration's policies, President Kurmanbek Bakiyev is convening a traditional conclave of elders and officials in Kyrgyzstan.

The meeting has been dubbed the Kurultai Soglasyia, or Congress of Consent, and it is scheduled to formally convene on March 23 in Bishkek, the Kyrgyz capital. Its aim, as Bakiyev has stated, is "to establish national dialogue in order to unite all nations and ethnicities in Kyrgyzstan, to achieve inter-ethnic and inter-religious consent for the future." Participants are expected to debate Kyrgyzstan's territorial integrity, as well as the preservation of its cultural heritage, education and environment. It is unclear what legislative authority the kurultai would have, and analysts expect few concrete results from the event.

Discontent with the Bakiyev administration recently began to bubble up after officials implemented a significant hike in energy tariffs. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. Opposition leaders, sensing an opportunity to score political points, are now accusing Bakiyev of ignoring popular concerns while attempting to concentrate power in the executive branch. Concerning the kurultai in particular, Bakiyev critics are complaining about a lack of transparency in the selection of delegates, and note that the president's office played a dominating role in shaping the meeting's agenda. The fractious the United People's Movement (UPM) coalition has organized a counter-demonstration, which it is portraying as a Narodny Kurultai, or People's Congress, for March 17.

A kurultai is a traditional Turkic gathering of elites to discuss issues of public importance.

As preparations for the kurultais proceed, a media controversy continues to simmer. Several independent news outlets, including Radio Free Europe's Kyrgyz service - Radio Azattyk - have been unavailable since March 10. The British Broadcasting Corp.'s Kyrgyz service also experienced a temporarily interruption and several news websites that focus on Central Asia - including Ferghana.ru - remain blocked.

Azattyk director Kubat Otorbaev told EurasiaNet that he sees "political reasons" for the media restrictions. "It is likely that government does not want opposition media telling people about such important events as ? the upcoming congresses," he said on March 15.

Helping to darken the media climate in Kyrgyzstan, an editor for the Press-KG Internet newspaper, Abdubakhab Moniev, was reportedly beaten on the evening of March 15, along with two representatives of the Ata-Meken (Fatherland) opposition party in southern Kyrgyzstan.

Some administration critics who are planning to attend the opposition People's Congress say they will demand the repeal of recent constitutional amendments that enhance executive authority. They will also seek a reduction in energy tariffs; restitution of recently privatized industries, including the state telecom and energy concerns; and an end to the alleged persecution of opposition leaders. Administration critics are also concerned about new legislation that would allow the president's office to appoint an executive successor in an emergency.

Complaining about a lack of transparency in the formulation of the Kurultai Soglasyia's agenda, Abdukerim Ashirov, a representative of the non-governmental organization Citizens against Corruption, told EurasiaNet: "The main dispute about the Kurultai Soglasyia is not about the kurultai itself, but in the way to organize a kurultai."

At a March 11 news conference, Roza Otunbaeva -- the leader of the opposition Social Democratic party (SDP) faction in parliament, and a driving force behind the organization of the opposition People's Congress - suggested that authorities are striving to muzzle free speech in the country. She went on to complain that the government was refusing to approve a venue for the opposition kurultai, and alleged that officials were blocking access to opposition media resources.

Otunbaeva said the People's Congress aimed to foster a constructive dialogue between the opposition and the president. The opposition will "do its best to establish a dialogue and certainly convey the decisions of the People's Kurultai" to the president's office, she told EurasiaNet.

Governing party officials see the opposition forum as disruptive. The opposition is simply using the People's Congress to weaken the president's event and score political points, alleged Ulugbek Ormonov, the leader of the pro-presidential Ak-Jol faction in parliament.

"The Kurultai Soglasiya is an ancient tradition of the Kyrgyz people and was initiated by President Bakiyev to discuss vital issues for Kyrgyzstan. And the opposition is deliberately undermining the role of the Kurultai of Consent," Ormonov told EurasiaNet. "Their refusal to participate is an indicator of their stronger wish to achieve power rather than their declared intention to assist in the development of Kyrgyzstan. It is not good for the opposition to use their meeting on March 17 to call people to make illegal acts."

Regardless of the opposition's motives, the president appears to face widespread skepticism about the utility of a kurultai.

Cholpon Omorbekova, a Bishkek dentist, told EurasiaNet that the event seemed to have little relevance to the population's immediate needs. "I have read about it in the newspaper," she said. "Personally I have little trust in its usefulness. Prices are getting higher and earnings lower. ... People are thinking more about buying food."

Analysts are also skeptical about what the event will accomplish. Kadyr Malikov, director of the Independent Analytic Research Centre - Religion, Rights, and Politics, supports the president's attempts to organize a meeting, but doubts it will succeed in promoting consensus. "The list of delegates lacks representatives and leaders from youth, oppositional and confessional groups," he noted.

"The general responsibility for today's situation rests with both sides, authorities and opposition," he continued. "The difficulty is that common people are between authorities and the opposition. There is no political elite loyal to national interests. There is no strong leader in the opposition. And there [are too few members of the] intelligentsia in society to see reality and exercise democracy."