Book 1.indb - The Jamestown Foundation

The Tulip Revolution: Kyrgyzstan One Year After
tial elections on July 10. Among them there are three women, the Kyrgyz ombudsman,
businessmen, musicians and physicians. Many of the competitors
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have accused Bakiyev of using state administrative recourses in his campaign.
Osmonkun Ibragimov, a state secretary under Akayev, voluntarily returned
$13,500 to the public treasury to assist the new government in tackling
corruption. 20 Ibragimov hopes to set an example for other public employees to
join efforts to clean up politics in Kyrgyzstan. Thanks to the drop in corrup-
tion since the regime change in late March, Bakiyev
has promised that monthly
salaries for teachers and doctors will be increased by 30-40% in the near future. 21
Bakiyev and Kulov
have agreed to add 30 more seats to the parliament
from party lists. According to Kulov, this will strengthen political parties and allow
women and young candidates to participate in the political process. These seats are
likely to be filled primarily by members of Ar-Namys, a party headed by Kulov. The
enlarged parliament is expected to shift the political system in the country from
presidential to semi-presidential, allocating more powers to the prime minister.
The interim government is trying to maintain a balance between Russia and
the United States. Both Bakiyev and Kulov implicitly approved bilateral security co-
operation within the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) after plans for a
new Russian military base in Osh were reported in the Russian mass media. Kulov told
22
Kommersant that Russia remains “Our best friend and friends must not be changed”.
23 Akipress is reporting that China might station a military base in Osh.
Again,
as with the Russian base, such reports have not been confirmed by the Chinese Foreign
Ministry, only published in a Chinese newspaper, Huasya Shiabo. However on May 25
Bakiyev
did say that he sees a need for increased cooperation with the CSTO and the
Shanghai Cooperation Organization, particularly considering the situation in Andijan.
At the same time, while the meeting with U.S. Senators in Bishkek, Kulov
stated that Kyrgyzstan would seek to strengthen relations with the United States. U.S.
Senator John McCain (R-AZ) said he believes recent developments in Kyrgyzstan will
be the beginning of democracy in the entire Central Asian region. 24 The senator mentioned
that Washington will send $3 million to help cover expenses related to the
“March events” in Kyrgyzstan and that the U.S. Congress is considering allocating an
additional $4 million to support the election process. But U.S. senators also insisted
that the Kyrgyz government allow refugees from Andijan to remain in Kyrgyzstan. If
Bishkek considers this recommendation, it will likely harm relations with Tashkent.
At a recent OSCE meeting in Vienna, Bakiyev
called upon interna-
tional donors to invest in Kyrgyzstan as well as the Central Asian region. “In
strengthening regional integration processes we see the foundation of secure and
stable development of all Central Asian states,” he said. 25 A number of EU states
subsequently allocated millions of Euros to the Kyrgyz presidential elections.
The Russian newspaper Nezavisimaya gazeta
sees the Bakiyev
-Kulov
pact as
a positive example that should encourage other Central Asian politicians to act in
accord. 26 In particular, the governments of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan
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