Blogging the democratic revolution
The new unicameral parliament in effect since the dissolution of the upper house has renounced the election date set by the previous parliament for June 26. A new date hasn’t been announced as the legislature is busy discussing what to do now that Akayev has resigned. Kyrgyzstan????????s unicameral parliament has repealed a resolution adopted by…
Combined with the old parliament resigning, this piece of good news certainly lends the last bit of credibility the new interim government needs. Akayev has finally resigned. MOSCOW (Reuters) – Kyrgyzstan’s deposed president Askar Akayev tendered his resignation Sunday at his country’s embassy in Moscow in the presence of members of the Central Asian state’s…
A few significant things have happened in this arena besides the sale of fighter jets to both Pakistan and India. Secretary of State Rice has recently said that the U.S. aims to make India a world power in the 21st century. Washington: The United States unveiled plans Friday to help India become a “major world…
I was just going through Google news last night and read an article on The Tufts Daily, an editorial piece regarding the Tulip Revolution. A lot of it had to do with post-revolution relations with Russia and how Kyrgyzstan should move away from its influence. Well, besides being physically impossible to move, I dropped a…
The other day, both parliaments were rivalling for power. That got put an end to, with the upper house dissolving. Bishkek, 29 March 2005 (RFE/RL) — The upper chamber of Kyrgyzstan’s old parliament today followed the outgoing lower chamber in suspending its activities and giving way to the newly elected single-chamber parliament. Muratbek Mukashev, the…
Just after many major opposition leaders were released from prison, they’ve decided to make Aliyev regret it. In the beginning of April, the three main Azeri opposition parties will unite and stage a protest against the government. BAKU. March 28 (Interfax-Azerbaijan) – Three Azerbaijani opposition groups – the Popular Front, the Democratic Party and Musavat…
President Aliyev of Azerbaijan recently stated how much he wishes there was a viable opposition at the polls to give him some competition. Of course, that might actually happen if the government didn’t suppress it. BAKU, March 27 (AFP) – Azerbaijan’s ruling party Yeni Azerbaijan late Saturday elected the country’s President Ilham Aliyev as its…
It’s been awhile since there’s been anything on Tajikistan, and even during the elections there wasn’t much media coverage. As is typical, the CIS election observers said the election was fair while the OSCE said it was not. Well, they still aren’t getting much attention. Thinking-East.net has it’s newest addition up, with a lot of…
Laurence over at Registan notes that both the new and old legislatures are claiming legitimacy. In the parliament building, members of the newly restored legislature – lawmakers who served before disputed February and March elections that led to the protests that brought down the government – met in one room, while politicians elected in the…
Will is discussing the marketing of the revolution over at his blog. I noted in his comments that the revolution in Kyrgyzstan has had many names thus far — tulip, pink, lemon — and that using up so many good names on one revolution will make it harder to name the ones that follow. He…
I love it when I’m emailed so I don’t have to look! Nathan brings to us an exclusive ground report straight from Bishkek. This person was there from beginning to end and writes an account of the whole thing. Oh, and one more thing. . . This is the second picture of this girl. She’s…
It’s been a big day in Kyrgyzstan. While the protests have been steadily growing over the past month or so, today was clearly a marker event. Even from the beginning of this website, I have always referred visitors to Nathan’s Registan.net, where he keeps up on all issues Central Asia. He has always been the…
Editor Thomas Lifson at American Thinker points out that Herbert Meyer, a former Reagan administration intelligence official, has made some impressive forecasts about where to spot the next revolution, in an interview on Larry Kudlow’s show. He discussed his essay on the nature of revolutions, and told Kudlow, days ago, that Kyrgyzstan was next. He…
Kyrgyz President Akayev has reportedly fled to Russia after protesters stormed the presidential compound: One key opposition figure, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, was at the scene, and state TV appeared to be in opposition hands ???????? underscoring the impression that the hitherto fragmented opposition was consolidating control. Another leading opposition figure was said to have been freed…
But not by me. Nathan has put all of his posts on the ongoing developments in Kyrgyzstan into one easy roundup for your viewing pleasure. Once you read that, though, you might want to go to the main page because there will undoubtedly be more.
Continuing protests in southern Kyrgyzstan are giving rise to speculation that Russia might intervene militarily. Democracy Guy and Registan.net both correctly say, however, that the Russian military isn’t capable of an unwanted intervention (read: invasion), and the geo-political ramifications would be immense – certainly far more than the Kremlin wants to deal with right now….
This from the BBC yesterday, on Russia finally having had enough with OSCE election observation missions. (thanks to Nathan for picking it up) Russia’s Foreign Ministry condemned the protests, blaming "extremists". "Extremist forces must not be allowed to use political instability to create a threat to the democratic foundations of the Kyrgyz statehood," it said…
The past few days have brought quite a bit of good news from countries we wouldn’t expect. Just yesterday, the President of Azerbaijan signed a decree to release 53 political prisoners, and scores more. BAKU, Azerbaijan – Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliev pardoned more than 100 prisoners on Sunday, including dozens of opposition politicians whose release…
The protests in Kyrgyzstan seem to be having some effect: OSH, Kyrgyzstan – President Askar Akayev ordered the Central Election Commission and Supreme Court on Monday to investigate alleged violations in the recent parliamentary vote that have triggered weeks of nationwide protests led by the opposition, the president’s office said. Akayev ordered the commission and…
As always, Nathan has the scoop. Here’s the introduction to the post: EDM????????s report on the election is probably a good place to start. In sum, President Akayev has a huge majority in the new parliament, protests have spread, and an opposition congress has called for Akayev to resign. If that isn’t the lead in…
I bet you’ve all seen that link at the top of the screen! Make sure to click it, and in particular, go directly here for the latest on round 2 of the Kyrgyzstan parliamentary elections at The Argus!
Last week I reported on the brutal murder of the biggest opposition journalist in Azerbaijan, and between then and now over ten NGOs have condemned the murder. While there has been a near media blackout in terms of what has happened since then, a new scandal within the government has erupted. Top government officials have…
There are two people who you absolutely need to keep up with in order to keep up with the growing protests in Kyrgyzstan. Nathan has got the latest dispatches from the ground. Meanwhile, Gateway Pundit has some cool pictures for you to check out, though they are from January when the weather was much colder….
Nathan is collecting exclusive information and accounts. One such account is from a Kyrgyz employee working for an international NGO. Notice how big the protests are getting. The most dangerous situation is in Jalal-Abad. In Jalal-Abad, about 10,000 people are continuing blocking the oblast administration and protesting in Central park. Several opposition famous figures are…
Sorry guys, I’m still working on my research paper. In the meantime, check out The Argus for the latest on the protests underway in Kyrgyzstan on the run up to the re-run this Sunday.