The new president, Sadir Zhaparov, was in prison at the beginning of October when protests broke out in the capital and the opposition occupied parliament accusing the government of falsifying the results of the parliamentary elections. The former interim president of Kyrgyzstan, Sadir Zhaparov, was proclaimed the winner of yesterday’s elections on Sunday, achieving 79.5% of the support.
Zharov thanked the votes received and expressed his confidence that this country of 6.55 million inhabitants will come out of the crisis in two or three years. This requires political stability. The former Soviet republic hopes to close its period of instability after early October in Bishkek, the Kyrgyz capital, protesters took to the streets, accusing the government of falsifying the results of the parliamentary elections. Amid violent clashes with the forces of order, the opposition occupied the Parliament building and forced the Electoral Commission to annul the results of the elections.
The scenario was similar to the one that took place last summer in Belarus. But Kyrgyz President Sooronbái Zheenbekov chose to resign voluntarily, handing over the powers of the head of state to Zhaparov, who was in jail when the protests broke out. The electoral turnout surpassed 39.5% yesterday, according to the Russian agency Sputnik. Kyrgyzstan is, along with Tajikistan, the poorest country in the ex-Soviet space.
Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Sadir Zhaparov and expressed the hope that as head of state he will contribute to the promotion of ties between Russia and Kyrgyzstan, which responds to the fundamental interests of the Russian and Kyrgyz peoples and consolidates stability and security in the Central Asian region. Putin stressed that relations between the two countries have the character of a strategic partnership and alliance. Kyrgyzstan is a close ally of Russia, which has an airbase on its territory.
More than 85% of the Kyrgyz, according to the preliminary scrutiny, preferred the model of a presidential republic to that of a parliamentary republic in the referendum that was held on the same day. Specialists agree that the political crisis is not completely closed: the reform of the Constitution remains to be voted on.
The country’s new leader has already been criticized for wanting to accumulate too much power. Added to this situation are a difficult economic situation and a foreign debt that already exceeds 3,300 million Euros.
The new president has addressed the nearly two million Kyrgyz workings abroad and has promised to help them return home by creating decent jobs. He has also promised to raise wages and pensions.
