Fall Of Another Post-Soviet Regime Shocks Central Asia

by Kester Kenn Klomegah

(IPS) MOSCOW -- The fall of the government in the former Soviet republic Kyrghyzstan could shake up authoritarian regimes in Belarus, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan, experts say.

Opposition leaders ended the 15-year rule of Kyrgyz president Askar Akayev Friday following mounting protests over what protestors saw as flawed elections Feb. 27-Mar. 13.

Protests aided generously by the U.S. had earlier led to new elections and changes of government in Ukraine and Georgia, both former Soviet republics.

Akayev fled Kyrghyzstan, a mountainous nation of five million bordered by China, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, Friday in the face of violent demonstrations.

A crowd stormed the Kyrgyz government offices and the national television station in capital Bishkek Friday. Opposition groups fought a pitched battle with the outnumbered riot police and defense ministry troops guarding the so-called White House, location of the presidential administration and parliament, before overpowering them. Protesters then surged through the gates of the building.

Protests against the election results, corruption and human rights abuses have rocked the country over the past week. Several towns across southern Kyrgyzstan, including the second largest city Osh, fell to opposition supporters in rapid succession.

By nightfall, media reports said Akayev had fled in a helicopter along with close family members to Kazakhstan and then to Russia where interior ministry officials neither denied nor confirmed these reports to IPS.

"An anti-constitutional coup d'etat has been carried out in Kyrgyzstan," the Kyrgyzstan national news agency Kabar quoted Akayev as saying. "A handful of irresponsible political opportunists and conspirators have embarked on a criminal path to seize power by force. An uncontrollable and destructive wave of anarchy and riots has flooded the capital and many regions of the country. The extremists are using deceitful revolutionary slogans and appeals in committing their violent criminal acts."

In an address to the nation Kabar published on its website, Akayev denied that he had resigned and said his "current stay outside the country" would be a "temporary event."

Human rights groups and the opposition hailed his departure as the end of authoritarian rule in the country.

Rachel Denber, the European and Central Asian acting director of Human Rights Watch had warned Akayev of an outbreak of political violence last month. "Regrettably, a series of troubling statements made by you and other government leaders seem designed to intimidate and impugn civil society activists and members of the political opposition," she said in a letter to Akayev.

Akayev dismissed the opposition as "extremists" and said that the mass movements were a creation of the west, as in Georgia and Ukraine

But protests increased in the face of a government crackdown. Recent legislation curbed freedom of assembly. The government refused to register several opposition candidates. Voices critical of the government were silenced or marginalized in the media. The police began to intimidate opposition members and civil society activists.

The economic situation, following the dissolution of the powerful Soviet Union, remains dire, particularly in the south. Communist-era factories remain shut, unemployment has soared, and social dissatisfaction is high.

Russia remained substantially sympathetic to Akayev. "The development of the situation in Kyrgyzstan was not anything unexpected for us," President Vladimir Putin said in a statement. "This is a result of the weakness of power, and the accumulated socio-economic problems in the country. At the same time, it is regretful that once more in a country in the post-Soviet area, political issues are decided by unlawful means, accompanied by riots and casualties."

Putin said he hoped the opposition would bring the situation under control. "These people are well known to us," he added.

Several Russian politicians said the election process fell far below European standards. Communist Party of Russia leader Gennady Zyuganov said the flawed election, poverty, and interference by the United States were likely reasons for the developments in Kyrgyzstan.

"I have a feeling that the Americans are not very satisfied with those who rule Kyrgyzstan," Zyuganov said at a news conference in Moscow. "The main reason, in my opinion, is that Akayev's clan has helped all its members -- starting with children and ending with the most distant relatives -- win parliamentary seats. They have done everything in their power to suppress the opposition."

Kyrgyzstan's impoverished population has come close to the bottom line, he said. "The average salary in Kyrgyzstan's southern regions is four dollars and the average pension is three dollars," Zyuganov said. "This indignation among the people is quite justified and understandable."

Fresh presidential elections will now be held June 26, the upper chamber of the Kyrgyz parliament decided Saturday. Acting prime minister Kurmanbek Bakiyev has said a provisional government to be set up by parliament soon will take charge until then.