Non-clan Russian

Igor Chudinov became Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyzstan will enter the coming new year with fully formed branches of government, executive and legislative. Yesterday, a week after the early parliamentary elections held on December 16, a new parliamentary corps met to approve the candidacy of the country's new prime minister and elect the speaker of parliament.

46-year-old Igor Chudinov ( pictured ), who headed the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Fuel Resources of Kyrgyzstan from February to October of this year, and before that headed Kyrgyzgaz OJSC for two years, was elected head of the government. Mr. Chudinov's candidacy, in accordance with the new constitution, was proposed by the Ak Zhol faction of the presidential party, which has an absolute majority in parliament. The appointment of Igor Chudinov as head of government did not become a sensation for the Kyrgyz elite - his name was mentioned as a future prime minister several months before the parliamentary elections.

The arguments in favor of Mr. Chudinov's candidacy seemed obvious to the country's current leadership. Firstly, he is not noticed in opposition activities and is devoid of political ambitions. Secondly, he is Russian, which reliably indicates the absence of clan affiliation, which is characteristic of almost all Kyrgyz politicians. In addition, his appointment will serve as a good sign both for Russian-speaking citizens of Kyrgyzstan and for the Russian leadership. And finally, thirdly, if necessary, Igor Chudinov will always be ready to give up his place to a political appointee. And even, while saving the president, take on the main responsibility for the inevitable adoption of unpopular decisions.

The election of Adakhan Madumarov, a former television journalist and one of the active leaders of the Kyrgyz opposition, which forced President Akaev to resign during the March 2005 events, looks different as speaker of the Parliament. On the eve of the December elections, he resigned from his post as Secretary of State so that he could run for deputy from the presidential Ak Zhol party. Mr. Madumarov, 42, has earned a reputation as a brilliant speaker, a good polemicist and even the main ideologist of the current Kyrgyz regime.

After 1995, Adakhan Madumarov was a deputy of parliament of three convocations. It was obvious to many observers in Kyrgyzstan that, having again run for parliament, the politician did not see himself other than in the chair of speaker. However, the ex-chairman of the constitutional court, Cholpon Baekova, who was elected to parliament from the same party in power, Ak Zhol, had exactly the same ambitions. The difference between these influential Kyrgyz politicians is not so much gender as clan. If Ms. Bayekova represents the northern Chui clan (a native of the Kemin region, home to ex-president Askar Akayev), then Mr. Madumarov comes from the south of the country, from Osh.

In the behind-the-scenes struggle for leadership positions in parliament, obviously, not without the support of the White House (as the residence of the President of Kyrgyzstan in Bishkek is called), the southerner Madumarov won. It is possible that he views the post of speaker as a springboard in the future presidential race. Bayekova had to be content with one of the three posts of vice-speaker. As a result, according to many experts, for the first time in the post-Kayev period, northerners will not be represented in the top leadership of Kyrgyzstan, not counting the presidential administration. Taking into account the traditional balancing of positions of power in the republic, such dominance of the southern clan (President Bakiyev is also from the south), informed interlocutors of Vremya Novostei in Bishkek say, may in the near future lead to increased discontent among residents of the north of the country. Considering the inevitable rise in fuel and food prices in the spring of 2008, this protest resource could have a serious destabilizing effect on the situation in Kyrgyzstan.

Already yesterday in Bishkek there was a meeting of representatives of the opposition parties of the republic, who, as a result of the elections, found themselves outside the walls of parliament. Among them are such well-known political forces as Ata-Meken, Ar-Namys and Asaba. At the meeting, it was decided to begin preparations for collecting 300 thousand signatures in support of the adoption of a new constitution for Kyrgyzstan, and also to think about creating a “shadow” parliament.

Arkady DUBNOV