Melis Eshimkanov recently announced his candidacy for the October 29 presidential poll in Kyrgyzstan. He is editor of influential Kyrgyz-language independent newspaper 'Asaba,' and leader of the opposition El (Bei-Bechalar) Party. Although only 38, he is a veteran opposition activist. In the mid-1980s, he helped found the Kyrgyz pro-democracy movement after travelling to the Baltic republics and learning from the emerging anti-Communist campaigns there. The KGB persecuted Eshimkanov for his activities, and he eventually lost his job as a television newsreader.

He assumed the top job at the youth paper Asaba in 1991, and steered it towards the opposition. In 1995, he was a founder of the El Party. As both editor and politician he is an outspoken critic not only of the current regime but also of the general ills of contemporary Kyrgyzstani society, and his current presidential campaign has already produced a number of furious clashes with the administration. Nick Megoran, a contributor for EurasiaNet, interviewed Eshimkanov in his editorial office in Bishkek recently.

Eurasianet: What do you see as the main issues facing Kyrgyzstan today?

Eshimkanov: The most pressing problem is the loss of honour. We have not been able to base the 'transition period' on the rule of law, leading to the mushrooming of various forms of social malaise such as corruption, laziness, drug addiction, and prostitution. The second is that we don't have a precise model to follow. For example, we criticize [Turmenistani president] Turkmenbashi [Saparmarat Niyazov] and [Uzbekistani president Islam] Karimov for their authoritarian regimes, but at least it is clear where they stand: they declare openly 'this is the path we are taking, we don't need freedom of speech or demonstrations.' We're the opposite -- our president always speaks about democratic laws and we have the image of being 'the island of democracy,' but in practise this is not the case. We are wearing a mask and have become a hypocritical society. With Afghanistan on this side and Tajikistan on that side, unless we get a leader like Russia's Vladimir Putin who supports democratic principles and does not have the communist mentality, yet at the same time can govern firmly, our country will be in great danger.

Eurasianet: Do you see yourself as that potential Putin for Kyrgyzstan?

Eshimkanov: Yes, that is why I have declared my candidacy... but I am not speaking about his ideology. Putin is still something of a mysterious entity to both us and the West. However, his tough stand against corruption is just what we need. It is not possible to simply transplant Western democracy here. Undoubtedly we need to take its essential principles, otherwise we will end up like Saddam Hussein's regime -- or [Kazakhstan’s Nursultan] Nazarbaev's, or Karimov's. For fifteen or twenty years, we need in the best sense of the word a humane, honourable, democratic dictator.

EuasiaNet: You said that Kyrgyzstan can't simply transplant Western democratic models here. Can the Kyrgyz draw on their own intellectual history here?

Eshimkanov: That is a key plank of my presidential platform. The main difference between the Kyrgyz and the Uzbeks or Turkmens is that we do not have the psychology of slavery in our blood. The Kyrgyz have not had kings or presidents. They were ruled by something like a federal parliament formed by representatives. The word 'aristocrat' designated not wealth but wisdom- those who were clear thinkers, who could maintain unity within the nation. Therefore, if we were to draw on our 2,000-3,000-year-old oral tradition in presidential, parliamentary and governmental administration, we would solve a lot of our problems.

Eurasianet: What do these differences in philosophy say about the current relationships between the states in Central Asia?

Eshimkanov: Uzbekistan arose recently and has a poorer history than us. However, in view of current political realities, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan simply have to unify. Mutual disagreements, border disputes and inter-state economic conflicts have become very bitter. We need a Central Asian confederation with a rotating leadership, as some of our intelligentsia such as Chinggis Aitmatov have suggested. At the moment Karimov is a pretty strong politician, so he should be given the leadership. Let us preserve our internal differences and freedoms, let us keep our separate currencies and economies, but there must be some common legal framework in which to find agreement and work together. Meaningless treaties such as Akaev’s, Karimov’s and Nazarbaev's "Eternal Friendship" agreements are just games. They have not solved water, gas or any other problems. If we think about the common, regional interest of Central Asia we see that there are dangers from all sides. From one side Pakistan and Afghanistan, from another an expansionist China -- there is no way to defend Central Asia except unification. Uzbekistan is doing better than Kyrgyzstan economically and has a larger population and, seeing itself as some sort of 'elder brother,' has a condescending relationship to us. The resultant border disputes could lead to a repeat of the Osh events [the 1990 Kyrgyz-Uzbek violence].

Eurasianet: How do you view the current relations between Uzbeks and Kyrgyz in the south of Kyrgyzstan?

Eshimkanov: If you speak with the ordinary people there is no great enmity. There is always the chance of minor altercations arising out of everyday issues. The main cause of the Osh events was the Communist regime. It was the culmination of 10 or 20 years of social problems, such as the border issue. For those at the helm of the Communist regime then, and for those governing now, this is a political game, setting Uzbeks and Kyrgyz against each other. If sensible policies were followed by both Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, such conflicts would be prevented.

Eurasianet: Moving to the October election, do you think that it will be free and fair?

Eshimkanov: Of course not. If the incumbent president takes part it will be unfair as he only has the right to serve two terms of office. Secondly, the polling technology we have creates the very conditions for falsification of results. Voting procedure, the role of observers, the way election committees are formed -- there are many, many flaws, making it easy to produce an artificial result. Neither the opposition nor the NGO sector are able to prevent this. When US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright visited, I told her that she should help us with just one thing: print the ballot papers overseas. If we do that here twice the necessary amount will be printed. Exactly that happened in 1995.

EuasiaNet: What else can be done by international organisations to promote fair elections?

Eshimkanov: If they send many observers – 500, or 1,000 -- it will be hard for Akaev. Secondly, we have a strong NGO sector which works for democracy. If the OSCE and others would support them financially, it would be a great help to us.

EuasiaNet: What sort of pressure to you expect in the campaign?

Eshimkanov: The pressure has already begun. Court hearings have started against Asaba in the last month - initiated by Usubaliev [former first secretary of the Kyrgyz Communist party], Akaev's press secretary, banks, and parliamentary deputies. Altogether they are seeking 60 or 70 million soms (about $1.5 million) worth of damages. The court of arbitration so far has awarded 1.1 million soms to plaintiffs, and if I don't pay that the paper will close. However neither I nor Asaba has that sort of money -- in total we make about 20,000 soms (about $425) a month. They plan to close us by the end of August, and to stop me running in the election. They have many methods -- we have seen these before. For example, in May Akaev's people came and offered me $500,000 to buy Asaba for five months, until the election is over. I didn't even need to think about it, I immediately refused. My only hope here is God -- if I think I will make it through to the second round. However, I'm afraid that they will prevent me from taking part. … After the parliamentary elections, Albright came and we had lunch with her deputy. That encouraged me to think that the West won't lose interest in our democratization process, that there is still hope that Kyrgyzstan will be the 'island of democracy.' But in the last couple of months, I have come to see that they have lost interest and have stopped believing in us. They have realised that there is no difference between the rulers of Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan and have, I think, really stopped caring.

Eurasianet: How do you rate the strength of the opposition?

Eshimkanov: The opposition is not strong here, unfortunately. The tragedy of Kyrgyzstan is that people do not divide along party or ideological lines, but rather along regional ones --- north and south, clan groupings. The opposition is trying to unify at the moment. All the candidates apart from Akaev are talking about this. However, following the arrest of Felix Kulov [for background see the Eurasia Insight archive and EurasiaNet’s Daily Digest] many influential members of the opposition, such as Bakyt Beshimov, have gone silent.

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Posted August 11, 2000 © Eurasianet
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