History
On August 19, 1991, when the State Committee for the State of Emergency (SCSE) assumed power in Moscow, there was an attempt to depose Akayev in Kyrgyzstan. After the coup collapsed the following week, Akayev and Vice President German Kuznetsov announced their resignations from the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), and the entire politburo and secretariat resigned. This was followed by the Supreme Soviet vote declaring independence from the U.S.S.R. on August 31, 1991. Kyrgyz was announced as the state language in September 1991. (In December 2001, through a constitutional amendment, the Russian language was given official status.)
In October 1991, Akayev ran unopposed and was elected President of the new independent republic by direct ballot, receiving 95% of the votes cast. Together with the representatives of seven other republics, he signed the Treaty of the New Economic Community that same month. On December 21, 1991, the Kyrgyz Republic formally entered the new Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
In 1993, allegations of corruption against Akayev's closest political associates blossomed into a major scandal. One of those accused of improprieties was Prime Minister Chyngyshev, who was dismissed for ethical reasons in December. Following Chyngyshev's dismissal, Akayev dismissed the government and called upon the last communist premier, Apas Djumagulov, to form a new one. In January 1994, Akayev initiated a referendum asking for a renewed mandate to complete his term of office. He received 96.2% of the vote.
A new constitution was passed by the parliament in May 1993. In 1994, however, the parliament failed to produce a quorum for its last scheduled session prior to the expiration of its term in February 1995. President Akayev was widely accused of having manipulated a boycott by a majority of the parliamentarians. Akayev, in turn, asserted that the communists had caused a political crisis by preventing the legislature from fulfilling its role. Akayev scheduled an October 1994 referendum, overwhelmingly approved by voters, which proposed two amendments to the constitution--one that would allow the constitution to be amended by means of a referendum, and the other creating a new bicameral parliament called the Jogorku Kenesh.
Elections for the two legislative chambers--a 35-seat full-time assembly and a 70-seat part-time assembly--were held in February 1995 after campaigns considered remarkably free and open by most international observers, although the election-day proceedings were marred by widespread irregularities. Independent candidates won most of the seats, suggesting that personalities prevailed over ideologies. The new parliament convened its initial session in March 1995. One of its first orders of business was the approval of the precise constitutional language on the role of the legislature.
On December 24, 1995, President Akayev was reelected for another 5-year term with wide support (75% of vote) over two opposing candidates. President Akayev used government resources and state-owned media to carry out his campaign. Three (out of six) candidates were de-registered shortly before the election.
A February 1996 referendum--in violation of the constitution and the law on referendums--amended the constitution to give President Akayev more power. Although the changes gave the president the power to dissolve parliament, it also more clearly defined the parliament's powers. Since that time, the parliament has demonstrated real independence from the executive branch.
An October 1998 referendum approved constitutional changes, including increasing the number of deputies in the lower house, reducing the number of deputies in the upper house, providing for 25% of lower house deputies to be elected by party lists, rolling back parliamentary immunity, introducing private property, prohibiting adoption of laws restricting freedom of speech and mass media, and reforming the state budget.
Two rounds of parliamentary elections were held on February 20, 2000 and March 12, 2000. With the full backing of the United States, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) reported that the elections failed to comply with commitments to free and fair elections and hence were invalid. Questionable judicial proceedings against opposition candidates and parties limited the choice of candidates available to Kyrgyz voters, while state-controlled media only reported favorably on official candidates. Government officials put pressure on independent media outlets that favored the opposition. The presidential election that followed later in 2000 also was marred by irregularities and was not declared free and fair by international observers.
The Kyrgyz opposition wanted the country to make a leap forward that would put it ahead of many other former Soviet states, including Russia, in terms of democratic development. President Akayev's Kyrgyzstan was usually considered the most democratic of Central Asian states, with Akayev often taking credit for the fact that the opposition had its own voice and expressed its opinion in the independent media, unlike in any neighbouring country.
Many observers believed the Kyrgyz are keen on democracy because personal freedom has been at the heart of their nomadic culture. With Islam not as deeply embedded here as in the rest of Central Asia, the Kyrgyz seem to be closer to the Buddhist Mongols than to Muslim Uzbeks or Tajiks.
The Kyrgyz Republic had been viewed as one of the most democratic countries of the former Soviet Union. However, the government moved to curb press freedom, and corruption is endemic. The first president of the country, Askar Akeyev, was a scientist rather than a party ‘apparatchik’ and was chosen as a compromise candidate to lead the republic in the days before the breakup of the Soviet Union. In December 1995, President Akayev was reelected in the first multicandidate presidential elections in Central Asia. In 2000, he was reelected in elections that the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) determined were not free and fair.
Mr Akayev's rhetoric about democracy and the need to develop friendly relations with the West was hardly distinguishable from that of the opposition, but the latter have claimed that the president had deviated from the democratic path and that his government had become steeped in corruption. At the February 2005, parliamentary election, opposition leaders were barred from participating, while two of Mr Akayev's children were elected, prompting speculation he intended to create a ruling dynasty - an idea seemingly entertained by many post-Soviet Central Asian leaders.
Parliamentary elections were held on March 13, 2005, and which resulted in pro-government parties winning a majority of the seats. The opposition, meanwhile, managed to win only six of the parliament's 75 seats. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)'s observer mission however noted that the elections had suffered from a number of shortcomings "including lack of effective voter access to diverse sources of information, bias in the media, continued de-registration of candidates on minor grounds, which are within national law but restrict genuine competition, and inaccurate and poorly maintained voter lists."
Following the elections, protests began erupting in numerous parts of the country, including the Jalalabad region. On March 15, protestors loyal to the opposition held captive the northern Talas District's regional governor as well another local official.
The US Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan, Stephen Young, concurred,on March 16, in large part with the OSCE mission's findings. Akayev however, accused Washington of orchestrating the opposition protests and complained about the US ambassador's inability to see a difference between his government and regimes in other Central Asian states.
The US State Department announced, on March 20, that it was "concerned by incidents of violence in Jalalabad and other parts of the country. [and called] on all parties in Kyrgyzstan to engage in dialogue and resolve differences peacefully and according to the rule of law." In a March 22, briefing, the State Deparment delineated its viewpoint that it was "critical that the [Kyrgyz] government address election irregularities in ways that are transparent and legal" while noting that Akayev had "directed the central election commission and supreme court to investigate contested election results".
U.S. criticism of the situation in Kygyzstan was, however, more muted than in the recent case of Ukraine, waiting for an investigation to "know the scope of the irregularities" involved, before deciding on whether to push for new elections to be held. It was unclear whether the fraud involved was on scale comparable to that of the 2004 Ukrainian elections.
On March 22, President Askar Akayev, confirmed that he refused to declare a state of emergency and that in response to the protest, Kyrgyz authorities would withdraw its law-enforcement divisions from southern Kyrgyzstan, to minimize the potential for violence. Akayev moved the following day to replace the Interior Minister Bakirdin and Prosecutor-General for their failure to prevent violence that had marred the southern part of the country.
On March 24, 2005, Kyrgyzstan's Supreme Court issued a ruling invalidating the results from the disputed parliamentary elections held two weeks prior. That same day, opposition demonstrators in the Capital of Bishkek protests stormed the 'White House', Kyrgyzstan presidential compound. Police and Interior Ministry troops reportedly offered no resistance. The buildings for the Kyrgyz state radio and television were also occupied by the opposition. Feliks Kulov, a prominent opposition figure, was also released from jail.
Following these events, Cholpon Bayekova, chairwomen of Kyrgyzstan's Constitutional Court, announced on National Television that the country's Prime Minister, Nikolai Tanaev, had resigned and that the opposition Coordination Council of the Kyrgyzstan People Unity would be serve as the country's probisional government. Kyrgyzstan's President Askar Akayev, was reported to have fled the country, possibly toward Kazakhstan, where his family had earlier arrived.
The country's Legislative Assembly then moved, that same day and per the country's constitution, to appoint the parliament Speaker, Ishenbai Kadyrbekov, to be acting President.
