Kyrgyz Opposition Group Says It Will Rule For 6 Months

[steven johnson]

Source: NY Times

MOSCOW — After a day of bloody protests that forced Kyrgyzstan’s president to flee the capital, a transitional government led by a former foreign minister said on Thursday that it had taken power, dissolved Parliament and would remain in office for six months.

The unrest, which spread across the capital, Bishkek, on Wednesday, seemed to pose a potential threat to a critical American air base supporting the NATO campaign in nearby Afghanistan. But Roza Otunbayeva, a former foreign minister who has emerged as head of a coalition of opposition groups, said Thursday that the supply line would not be immediately affected.

“Its status quo will remain in place,” she said at a news conference in the Parliament building. But she warned: “We still have some questions on it. Give us time and we will listen to all the sides and solve everything.”

Opposition politicians, speaking on state television after it was seized by protesters Wednesday, said they had taken control of the government after a day of violent clashes that left 68 people dead, officials said, and more than 400 wounded.



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/09/world/asia/09bishkek.html

[fasttense]

1. Making nicey, nicey with a dictator has it's problems.

"Kyrgyz president’s son, Maksim, had been scheduled to be in Washington on Thursday for talks with administration officials. The opposition views the younger Mr. Bakiyev as a vicious henchman for his father, and was infuriated that he was granted an audience. The State Department said late on Wednesday that it had canceled the meetings.

Opposition leaders have been divided in recent weeks over whether they would continue to allow the American military base to remain, but it seems clear that they harbor bitterness toward the United States. And neighboring Russia, which has long resented the base, has been currying favor with the opposition.

“The political behavior of the United States has created a situation where the new authorities may want to look more to Russia than to the United States, and it will strengthen their political will to rebuff the United States,” said Bakyt Beshimov, an opposition leader who fled Kyrgyzstan last August in fear for his life."

[denverbill]

5. Hmm. Seems like I've heard this story before.

US supports oppressive, dictatorial regime. People revolt, hate the US.

Welcome to Iran, round 2.

[muriel_volestrangler]

2. Profile of the woman now in charge:

A one-time ally of President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, Ms Otunbayeva served in his cabinet in the months immediately after the 2005 "Tulip Revolution".

But she later joined the opposition and was elected to parliament as a member of the Social Democratic Party.
...
In 1992, a year after independence, she became the former Soviet republic's first ambassador to the United States.

Two years later she was named foreign minister by President Askar Akayev, a role she served in for three years.

She then moved to London, as Kyrgyzstan's first post-Soviet ambassador to the UK, and followed that up by serving as the United Nations deputy special representative on Georgia.
...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/8608656.stm

[happygoluckytoyou]

3. IN A RELATED STORY kyrgyzstan redefines 6 months as "or until we feel want, whichever comes last"

[JDPriestly]

4. From reading news reports from various countries, I think that the Russians

are behind the violence and unrest. Bakiyev may be disliked, but the Russians have been flirting with the rebels because the Russians do not want an American base in Kyrgyzstan.



The Kyrgyz president’s son, Maksim, had been scheduled to be in Washington on Thursday for talks with administration officials. The opposition views the younger Mr. Bakiyev as a vicious henchman for his father, and was infuriated that he was granted an audience. The State Department said late on Wednesday that it had canceled the meetings.

Opposition leaders have been divided in recent weeks over whether they would continue to allow the American military base to remain, but it seems clear that they harbor bitterness toward the United States. And neighboring Russia, which has long resented the base, has been currying favor with the opposition.

“The political behavior of the United States has created a situation where the new authorities may want to look more to Russia than to the United States, and it will strengthen their political will to rebuff the United States,” said Bakyt Beshimov, an opposition leader who fled Kyrgyzstan last August in fear for his life.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/09/world/asia/09bishkek.html?pagewanted=2

http://derstandard.at/1269448994855/Blutiger-Umsturz-in-Kirgistan-Machtverhaeltnisse-nach-Umsturz-unklar

Looks like the Russians have taken over Kyrgyzstan.

Bakijev has been in office since 2005 and won 76.12% of the votes in an election in July 2009 with the opposition candidate, Atambajew winning 8.39%. But the election was overshadowed by allegations of cheating.

http://derstandard.at/1246542728160/Praesident-Bakijew-offiziell-Wahlsieger

Governments all over the world need to become more transparent. There is always a foreign power ready to take advantage when a good-sized segment of the population feels frustrated and alienated from the government. A whiff of corruption, and the situation can ignite very quickly.

The presence of our base seems to have provided just that whiff since we are paying so much to have the base there. I can imagine that the people of Kyrgyzstan wonder where the money for that base goes. All it takes is propaganda and there you are.

It looks to me like the Russians are behind this coup. Sorry, but this is not good news for Obama.

Somehow this situation reminds me of Honduras where an elected leader organized a coup (military in the case of Honduras, ostensibly -- but we don't really know -- popular in Krygyzstan, and is replaced by a government favorable to a powerful neighbor).

[David__77]

6. It's difficult to pin this down.

There's no reason to conclude that the newly-empowered opposition has more public support than the former government, nor can any conclusions regarding levels of support in general be made. There were recent austerity measures that provoked strong opposition among some people - that is certain, and makes this different than the Honduras case, however. In no way was the previous government on the left or seeking class justice, etc.

[JDPriestly]

7. The Russians are close to the people who took over and are releasing

the news. Both Der Standard (Austrian press) and the New York Times seem to be relying on Russian sources for the inside scoop on what the coup leaders are saying.

It's a fight about our base. The Russians don't want us there. That's what it is about. I just read that the military is supporting the coup. That may or may not be true. We shall see.

[PufPuf23]

8. Manas Airbase is a key platform

All NATO troops are processed through Manas and it is the USA's closest and the most used airbase in the invasion and occupation.

The Kyrgyzstan government had asked us to leave and opted not to re-new the lease early in the Obama admin but we ended up getting to stay for higher payments.

The other base most crucial in the initial invasion of Afghanistan was in Uzbetistan and the Uzbeks gave us an eviction notice (2005?) similar to the more recent sucessful evictions by Ecuador from Mantas base.

Curious that the base pattern around Afghanistan was in place prior 9-11 and used Plan Colombia basing as a model.

Or so I have read on the internet and read in books available in mass media. lol

[muriel_volestrangler]

9. Kyrgyzstan President Bakiyev refuses to resign

Kyrgyzstan's President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, who was forced to flee the capital Bishkek amid a bloody uprising, has insisted he will not resign.

In a series of interviews, Mr Bakiyev said he was in the south and would not leave. But he accepted he had lost control of the security forces.

The opposition, under ex-foreign minister Roza Otunbayeva, says it has taken full power.

The violent uprising has left 75 people dead and more than 1,000 injured.

Further sustained gunfire was heard after nightfall on Thursday, with Reuters news agency quoting the interior ministry as saying police were battling hundreds of looters.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/8609775.stm

'Control of the security forces' is pretty much the name of the game.