One of my biggest reasons for pessimism about how the situation in Kyrgyzstan will develop is that I doubted the Western press would pay much attention to the election. Thankfully that does not appear to be the case.
There’s strong western media interest in the story. OK, it’s not the Jackson trial, but still, when was Kyrgyzstan last in the Western news? I spoke with a number of journalists gearing up to go to Kyrgyzstan this week. A lot more than I would have ever expected. Colleagues report the same. After Ukraine went Orange and with all the buzz about spreading democracy these days, convincing your editor to shell out for a flight to Bishkek is not the hard sell it used to be.
As much as I bag on journalists, I must give those who are making the trip a nod of recognition for helping to get the word out. May their stories ignite interest and embolden those Kyrgyz who are taking to the streets to make their votes count. (I can’t help but make a dig at Justin Logan, by whose standard, journalists reporting on Kyrgyzstan could be considered to be making a dangerously morally hazardous choide.)
It’s doubly important that there be a lot of attention from the international press because inside Kyrgyzstan, there are few options for finding out about what is going on throughout the country other than the internet. [Damn! Peace Corps volunteers are a wonderful resource.]
My other major reason for pessimism was that I doubted that there would be much concern about the way the government was tampering with the campaign outside of Bishkek. Even within Bishkek, I figured that the protests would likely remain small. As my news roundups the past couple days have made abundantly clear, that has proven to be wrong–spectacularly so. And we have Askar Akayev’s decision to abandon old allies in favor of new ones to thank for this.
What sets the latest demonstrations apart is that so many involve supporters of pro-government candidates. They allege that their candidates were pushed aside in favour of individuals whom the regime wanted to bring into parliament.
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The wave of protests began on January 21, in the central Talas region, when over 2,000 supporters of parliamentary hopeful Ravshan Jeenbekov mounted a demonstration outside a local courthouse where the candidate had just had his registration revoked after it was alleged he had tried to buy votes.Jeenbekov, 34, is no opposition figure. Until December last year, he was head of the State Committee for Administering State Property.
The same day, supporters of two other pro-regime candidates blocked the main road through Kochkor, the main town of the Naryn region. By February 12, there were 4,000 people stopping traffic on the road, which is an important highway leading from Bishkek to Torugart on the border with China.
They were demanding the reinstatement of Akylbek Japarov, until recently a pro-government deputy in parliament, and Beishenbek Bolotbekov, a government official.
Elections officials had rescinded their registration on charges of buying voters. But supporters of Japarov and Bolotbekov say they were shoved out – despite being regime loyalists – because the authorities wanted the constituency kept clear for 86-year-old Turdakun Usubaliev, a former Communist Party head of Soviet Kyrgyzstan.
Be sure to read the rest of the story. The Kochkor protesters have accepted the presence of police and have fed and sheltered them. They also chased off the Naryn governor. And they are threatening to march on Bishkek.
Turns out there is good reason to be an optimist.
This post was written by...
Nathan Hamm – author of 2040 posts on Registan.net.
Nathan founded Registan.net in 2003. He was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Uzbekistan 2000-2001 and received his MA in Central Asian Studies from the University of Washington in 2007. Since 2007, he has worked full-time as an analyst, consulting with clients on Central Asian affairs, specializing in how socio-cultural factors shape risks and opportunities. Follow him on Twitter or drop him a line.