President Bakiev says that he wants a draft constitution by August. I have to wonder if this is a case of him being for it after he was against it after he was for it. The clearest message I glean from briefly going back through the last year’s stories on Bakiev and constitutional reform is that Bakiev thinks a new constitution should give him the president more power. A report from December puts the latest news in an interesting perspective.
Bakiev was elected to the presidency in July. Reforming the constitution was one of the main pledges he made on the campaign trail, in addition to promises to curb the president’s authority and give more power to parliament.
Bakiev now says that Kyrgyzstan is not yet ready for such changes, but that the Kyrgyz people will eventually decide on the shape of the country’s constitution. Bakiev said a new constitution should be put into effect in 2010.
Bakiev explained the wait as necessary to preserve his alliance with Kulov.
According to his latest position, draft constitutions outlining three forms of government should be finished by August 1 and submitted to parliament in September.
So, what’s changed? I guess last weekend’s protests got to him.
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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.
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Or the 13 cabinet members that resigned then didn’t resign.