KYRGYSTAN: Kyrgyz leader dissolves parliament after referendum

Kyrgyz president dissolves parliament after voters approve a set of constitutional amendments. Kyrgyz leader Kurmanbek Bakiyev dissolved parliament on Monday (October 22) to tighten his grip on the chamber after a constitutional referendum extended his authority in the impoverished Central Asian state. Kyrgyz voters approved a set of amendments on Sunday (October 21) giving Bakiyev leeway in picking key cabinet officials and paving the way for his political party to gain a footing in parliament. Officials at the Kyrgyz Central Election Commission said more than 75 percent of voters cast their ballots in favour of constitutional changes that broaden responsibilities of parliament while boosting Bakiyev's hold on power. "75.04 percent have voted in favour of the proposed constitutional amendments; that is 1,851,915 citizens," Gulya Ryskulova, a member of the Central Election Commission told a news conference in Bishkek. Kyrgyzstan has been volatile since 2005 when protesters ousted veteran leader Askar Akayev and brought Bakiyev to power. Since then, Bakiyev's unresolved stand-off with a chamber packed with Akayev-era deputies has fuelled instability. In an address to the nation, the Kyrgyz president said he had resisted calls to dissolve parliament before Sunday's referendum. "I have taken the step to dissolve the parliament. I will speak to you frankly: the outgoing parliament made its own destiny a difficult one. As you remember, the validity of this parliament was under question right after the last elections. At that time there were many calls for the dissolution of the chamber which was elected with serious electoral violations. But we did not take this step, because we understood that the deputies had been elected by the people; thousands of our electorate trusted them," Bakiyev said. He said that a new constitution, coupled with a new parliament, would help bring more stability. "After the constitutional referendum, and in accordance with existing laws, I announce new parliamentary elections, and I am convinced it will be a different, an absolutely democratic and clean election. And within a period stipulated by law, the country will have a new parliament made up of respected figures, elected for their ideas, and not for their money. With the current assembly's departure we are turning a whole page in our history," Bakiyev added. Bakiyev, himself elected in a 2005 vote judged free and fair by Western monitors, said he would set a date for the snap election after the new constitution formally comes into force. A Reuters reporter saw some members of parliament clearing their desks and removing files and books from their shelves as they vacated the building. Bakiyev has accused the assembly of blocking reform and provoking political crises. But Bakiyev has been criticised for not being aggressive enough to stop political infighting and for failing to focus on urgent issues such as crime and poverty. Others have criticised him for not dissolving parliament earlier. Yet Bakiyev is seen as a liberal among his more hardline Central Asian neighbours, allowing a relatively free media, strong opposition and civil society in the mainly Muslim state which is home to U.S. and Russian military bases. In the Sunday poll, voters also backed separate amendments raising the number of parliamentary deputies and changing the election process from a single-constituency system to a proportional all-party list. Analysts say that would help the newly formed pro-presidential Ak Zhol party to gain a footing in parliament. The opposition criticised the changes as a step towards authoritarianism and said the new constitution was contradictory and full of loopholes. But many Kyrgyz voters have agreed to give Bakiyev a stronger hand for the sake of stability, and economic prosperity. Kyrgyzstan is one of Central Asia's poorest countries, where monthly salaries average around 50-70 US dollars. Official government figures showed September inflation at 8.5 percent, though many people believe the figure to be much higher.

ITN Source | October 23, 2007

Tags:. .protesters. .inflation. .monitors. .relatively. .resisted