Book 1.indb - The Jamestown Foundation

The Tulip Revolution: Kyrgyzstan OneYear After
ther candidate wants instability in the country. Bakiyev
does not exclude the possibility
of a union between the two leaders, while Kulov
says that it is not appro-
priate to judge which leader is better, because they have different political agendas.
The Bakiyev team faces a long list of pressing issues, ranging from an ineffective
constitution to a failed attempt at passport reform. Bakiyev’s government
has also been criticized for its reticence to address the spontaneous land
seizures in Bishkek by thousands of villagers during the Tulip Revolution. The
interim president replied that the process is slow because he wants the government
to negotiate a solution with the people rather than impose a decision.
Many businesses in Bishkek are pressing the government to reimburse
them for economic losses incurred during the popular revolution. A number of
Chinese businessmen demanded 1.5 billion soms from the Kyrgyz government.
Since the state budget cannot afford full compensation, the government offered
special terms for customs control on the Kyrgyz-Chinese border. 20 The government
also introduced a special fund for the victims of looting on May 24-25
in Bishkek to help small and medium businesses recover some of their losses.
In May 2004 the Akayev
government introduced a new passport system
to meet international standards. The shift had not been completed by the
time of regime change and the need to issue a new system of documentation
has produced numerous difficulties for the interim government. The new passports
were scheduled to be introduced in August 2004. Now there are no new
passports and no old passports that could be re-issued temporarily. New information
has revealed that former prime minister Nikolai Tanayev
allegedly pock-
eted millions of soms through a sweetheart deal to print passports in Kenya. 21
Notably, the United States and EU no longer issue visas for old Kyrgyz passports.
As a result of the passport vacuum, at least half a million Kyrgyz citizens cannot
receive valid documents. Students studying abroad, people living in border areas
and labor migrants are particularly affected. At the same time, thousands of Kyrgyz citizens
outside the country might not be able to vote in the upcoming presidential elections
due to severe shortages of state funds and problems with official documentation.
The interim government cannot address all the accumulated problems at once
and thus remains an easy target for harsh criticism from international and local journalists.
In particular Russian and Kazakh mass media tend to be saturated with negative
reports about the post-revolutionary developments in Kyrgyzstan. At times, the
criticism is based on mistaken facts, minimal details and mistaken views about events
on the day of the Tulip Revolution.
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