All power to the constituent assembly!

The Kyrgyz opposition went all-in

The confrontation between the government and the opposition in Kyrgyzstan reached its climax yesterday. The presentation of the draft constitution to parliament on November 6, promised by President Bakiyev, was received with hostility by opposition deputies. The only concession to the reduction of his powers made by the president was to grant legislators the right to nominate a candidate for prime minister based on the results of parliamentary elections.

In response, opposition leaders late at night initiated an emergency meeting of parliament to consider an alternative draft constitution that would significantly limit Bakiyev's powers. By midnight, it was possible to gather 45 deputies with the required constitutional majority of 51 votes (two-thirds of the 75-seat parliament). About 20 deputies loyal to the president, as reported by the Akipress news agency, gathered at the apartment of one of their colleagues, near the parliament. One of the opposition leaders, ex-speaker Omurbek Tekebaev, proposed that if the necessary quorum could not be assembled, a constituent assembly could be convened to adopt a constitution. Another opposition leader, Temir Sariev, said that by 10 a.m. today the country should receive a new constitution. At the same time, deputies cannot fail to understand that none of these proposals corresponds to the current basic law, and in order to adopt a new constitution, it is necessary to comply with a legal procedure that takes several weeks.

However, the situation, as the opposition claims, is revolutionary, and if at least 51 deputies vote for the constitution proclaiming a presidential republic by this morning, President Bakiyev will have to admit defeat. Moreover, this can be “consecrated” by the Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Kyrgyzstan Cholpon Baekova, who accepted the invitation of the deputies last night, with her appearance in parliament. The Chairman of the Supreme Court Kurmanbek Osmonov was already among them. And then if Bakiyev persists in defending his rights and powers in the battle with parliament, the Kyrgyz “street” will have the final say.

Yesterday this “street” seemed to have received a second wind; about 10 thousand protesters in support of the opposition gathered in the square in front of the White House - more than on the first day of the rally on November 2. Yesterday, the opposition achieved its first visible successes, from the post of acting The Minister of Internal Affairs was replaced by Osmonali Guronov (he received the post of head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs department for combating terrorism). Instead, the Ministry of Internal Affairs was headed by General Suvanaliev, popular in the country, nicknamed Commissar Cattani. The governor of the country's largest northern Chui region, Turgunbek Kalmurzaev, announced his switch to the opposition side. He joined the opposition's demands for the resignation of the ruling Bakiyev-Kulov tandem.

However, the political situation in Kyrgyzstan is unstable, and the opposition’s desire to get Prime Minister Felix Kulov out of the way may suddenly give way to a willingness to recognize him as its leader. But only if he appears in parliament and announces his resignation, accepting all the demands of the “revolutionary moment.” But yesterday Kulov was not going to change his habit of following the letter of the law. He responded to the invitation of opposition parliamentarians to join them, as on November 2, with a refusal.

Arkady DUBNOV