Which brings me to the politics and elections currently up in Kyrgyzstan:
Cruising for trouble:
Ferghana.ru translated an ITAR-Tass editorial concerning the Kyrgyzstan referendum of October 21. According to Mr. Usmonov, President Bakiev's popularity continues to wane; the new constitution gives more power to the president than did the 2003 constitution (which precipitated former President Mr. Akaev's retreat to Russia); and the referendum model was specifically chosen to change the constitution because the legislature would never have passed it.
Add into this US concerns with free and fair election conduct during the referendum. the concerns are that Kyrgyzstan only showed “marginal improvement” in election protocols. The OSCE was not satisfied either:
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the [U.S.] embassy said the violations in the referendum included ballot-stuffing, the use of state resources to shuttle people to voting precincts and interference in observers’ work.
Post-referendum party organizing:
The new constitution and short election season favors large, established parties over small parties. According to neweurasia.net, the new constitution spawned a lot of small parties–and one new party that is well-established: the Ak-Zol, briefly headed by Mr. Bakiev and most likely still under his aegis. The splintering of opposition is probably natural enough, but it will not gain the opposition any power–or any say–in legislation.
But as long as one is going to be stopped by Interior Ministry folks with guns after party meetings, the relationship of opposition to legal opposition is not forthcoming, now is it?
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