Former Social Democratic Party parliamentary faction leader Bakyt Beshimov has rejected offers to represent the interim government as envoy to Washington.
Beshimov managed Almazbek Atambayev's campaign on behalf of the opposition Social Democrats last summer. After the fraudulent presidential elections on July 23, he fled to the US, claiming threats against his life. He has since lived in Boston.
A major player in the opposition to Bakiyev, Beshimov tells Ferghana.ru that he has rejected the job and offers criticism of Roza Otunbayeva's fledgling government.
Check out these excerpts translated by EurasiaNet.org:
On upcoming elections, he said those wishing to run for parliament and president in October should leave their political ambitions outside the interim government.
Members of this government shouldn’t be promoting party interests, as two ex-presidents were doing, illegally lobbying the interests of [political parties such as] Alga Kyrgyzstan and Ak-Jol. You can see that from contradicting statements and from personnel policies. There is no need to step on the same rake.
Answering a question about First Deputy for Economic Affairs Atambayev's declared "pro-Russia" stance, Beshimov quipped about his former boss,
Apparently, with such demarches they are trying to achieve a special favor from Kremlin right before the elections. This is the result of the competition in the government for the sympathy of Moscow. It is important to note that friendly relation with Russia and [being a] pro-Russian underling are two different things. Kyrgyzstan and Russia are interested in reliable partnership and responsible attitudes towards commitments. Playing with Russia by manipulating the Russian language problem and the situation with the Russian speaking population, as was done by former [presidents], is not in our national interests. Those are our problems and they should be solved without politicking.
Beshimov, EurasiaNet readers may recall, was the only MP to vote to keep the Manas Airbase open when former President Kurmanbek Bakiyev was playing Geostrateic Roulette with Moscow in early 2009.
David Trilling is Eurasianet’s managing editor.
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