The battle of Kyrgyzstan

The whole process was remarkably efficient.

On Tuesday, the government of Kyrgyzstan (pronounced “Ker-gi-stan”) arrested their opponents in response to a governor being taken hostage. On Wednesday, the people hit the streets. And on Thursday there was a new government.

Sadly it came at a harsh cost. In the violence at least 78 people were killed and over 500 were injured.

But it’s still a victory for the people. And now other governments in the ‘Stans’ region are taking note of how easily things can change.

Kyrgyzstan lies below the much larger Kazakhstan and above western China in a low-key area known as Central Asia.

It’s a mountainous country that was formed in 1991 after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Bad governance has plagued the nation since then. In 2005, a similar uprising to Wednesday’s took place known as the ‘Tulip Revolution’ that ended the reign of independence hero and President Askar Akayev.

That brought the current president Kurmanbek Bakiyev to power on the promise of ending the government’s corruption.

But he failed to stop it. In fact, the scale of corruption in his government was worse than Akayev’s. He also mismanaged the economy and dished out many of the top government jobs to his relatives.

People generally put up with it. However, at the beginning of this year, real frustration emerged as a result of soaring energy prices.

It all came to a climax on Tuesday. Several thousand protesters stormed the government building in the northern town of Talas taking the governor hostage and demanding Bakiyev’s resignation.

The governor was freed by the police but the protesters retook the building later. In a crucial mistake, Bakiyev then ordered the arrest of almost all the opposition politicians.

By Wednesday morning, the demonstrations had spread from Talas across the north of the country to the capital Bishkek.

Most of the politicians were released later that afternoon but by then it was too late. The demonstrations had turned violent and the police were ordered to open fire.

This was his second mistake. Rather than stop the rioting, it only made the protesters angrier. They overwhelmed the security forces and stormed parliament buildings burning the prosecutor’s office.

President Bakiyev fled by plane to the south of the country where he is believed to be in hiding. The police also went into hiding for fear of being attacked by the young, and often drunk, men roaming the streets with their newly acquired police weapons.

Things have since calmed down. Many members of Bakiyev’s government have joined the opposition to form a new temporary government led by the former foreign minister Roza Otunbayeva.

She said they will run the country until they hold fresh elections in six months.

Bakiyev said he won’t step down and has called the new government illegal. But his opponents are simply ignoring him and have declared his reign in Kyrgyzstan over.

And it seems they have good reason to be confident. Apart from the general backing of the Kyrgyz people and the army, Russia and the United States (who both have military bases there) have signalled their support for the new government by phone.

Besides, Bakiyev is reportedly afraid to return to the capital for fear of his safety, his government has abandoned him, and the police no longer have control. His future political prospects look dim.

Now other countries in the region are watching out. A lot of them are as bad, if not, worse than Kyrgyzstan in terms of economic mismanagement and corruption.

In these countries elections are few and far between. People may well see the Kyrgyzstan victory as a successful model for overthrowing their rulers.

However there is an unfortunate price to pay. The people of Kyrgyzstan have given themselves a second chance at improving their country. But they will be hoping their new leaders don’t revert to the selfish old ways of the past so those who gave their lives on Wednesday did not die in vain.

By The Casual Truth

Photo – President-in-hiding Kurmanbek Bakiyev