The Revolving Door of Kyrgyz Politics

The Revolving Door of Kyrgyz Politics TULIP REVOLUTION EASTER REVOLUTION KYRGYZSTAN BECOMES INDEPENDENT 2000 MARCH 2005 APRIL 2010 1991 AKAYEV GOVERNMENT position(s) held during this government Askar Akayev PRESIDENT Rosa Otunbaeva FOREIGN MINISTER, AMBASSADOR Kurmanbek Bakiyev PRIME MINISTER Felix Kulov VICE PRESIDENT Kulov announced his candidacy for the legislature and was arrested a month later. He remained in jail until 2005 Otunbaeva returned from leading a UN mission to Georgia in 2004 and joined the opposition Bakiyev resigned as Prime Minister after a riot in 2002, and joined the opposition BAKIYEV GOVERNMENT Bakiyev PRESIDENT Ismail Isakov DEFENSE MINISTER Kulov PRIME MINISTER OPPOSITION TO AKAYEV Otunbaeva FOREIGN MIN. Otunbaeva was forced to resign on a constitutional technicality, and joined the opposition soon after Almazbek Atambayev MIN. OF INDUSTRY Omurbek Tekebayev SPEAKER OF PARL. Azimbek Beknazarov Kulov was rejected by parliament for another term as Prime Minis- ter, and promptly founded an opposition party PROSECUTOR Beknazarov was dismissed as special prosecutor almost immediately upon Bakiyev's government being confirmed by election in 2005 Tekebayev resigned after a political fight with President Bakiyev On 7 April 2010, riots in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, turned violent and protestors forced President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, who swept to power at the head of the "Tulip Revolution" some five years before, to flee the capital. The new interim government is lead by Rosa Otunbaeva, who was also a key leader of the Tulip Revolution. Atambayev resigned and joined the opposition in early 2006, over disagree- ments with the Bakiyev government Isakov resigned as head of national security in 2008 and joined the opposition; he was convicted on corruption charges in January 2010 OPPOSITION TO BAKIYEV INTERIM GOVERNMENT Otunbaeva Indeed, most of the new interim government is composed of prominent politicians from the Tulip Revolution and the Bakiyev government they're now overthrowing. Some of the opposition leaders (Otunbaeva included) held prominent roles in the regime of Kyrgyzstan's first president, Askar Akayev. LEADER Atambayev Tekebayev DEPUTY LEADER DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER Beknazarov JUSTICE MINISTER In this sense, the “Easter Revolution" of 2010 is perhaps less of a revolution and more a political realignment of the ruling elites, just as the Tulip Revolution proved to be. While there will surely be changes in Kyrgyzstan following this latest reshuffling, a change in the nature of Kyrgyz politics seems unlikely. Isakov DEFENSE MINISTER Bolat Sherniyazov INTERIOR MINISTER Temir Sariev FINANCE MINISTER Kulov has not yet joined SOURCES AP, Azeri Press Agency, BBC, EurasiaNet, Ferghana, International Republican Institute, The New York Times, RealClearWorld, Radio Free Europe, The Moscow Times, Times of Central Asia, Wikipedia Chart by Evan Hensleigh • futuraprime.net • 2010 inspired by Eric McGlinchey's editorial in the New York Times: "Running in Circles in Kyrgyzstan," 9 April 2010