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Kyrgyz parties agree on coalition, amidst several incidents

In Kyrgyzstan a preliminary agreement on the creation a new coalition government has been reached between the Social Democratic Party, Respublika and Ata-Meken, as was reported on 30 November. The spokesman of the Social Democrats said that a draft agreement by Almazbek Atambaev and Omurbek Babanov, leaders of respectively the Social Democratic Party and Respublika, was sent to the Ata-Meken Party Chairman Omurbek Tekebaev. The draft agreement allegedly states that Atambaev (picture) would become the prime minister, Tekebaev the parliament speaker and Babanov first deputy prime minister. Tekebaev will give his opinion on the agreement at a party session today (30 november). The Kyrgyz parliament has already approved the three-party coalition. It was reported that other variants of creating a government have been discussed as well, such as a coalition between the Social Democratic Party, Respublika and Ata-Jurt, the party that won the parliamentary elections in October. The third-placed pro-Russian party, Ar-Namys, declined to join a coalition with the Social Democratic Party.

Previously
First the nationalist Party Ata-Jurt failed to form a coalition. Then on 11 November Interim President Roza Otunbayeva instructed the Social Democratic Party to establish talks on forming a coalition, which she said was to be formed within fifteen working days. The Social Democratic Party and Ata-Meken are seen as the reformist parties in the Kyrgyz parliament. They came in respectively second and fith in the October parliamentary elections. Their partner, leader of Respublika Omurbek Babanov, is known to have good relations with the Social Democratic Party.

Incidents
Meanwhile, a blast occurred in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek on 30 November, wounding two policemen and a nurse. The explosion happened outside a sports stadium functioning as a court where 28 former high government officials are on trial. Kyrgyz authorities are blaming the blast on militants possibly trained in foreign terrorist camps. Another proof that tensions are still high in Kyrgyzstan are clashes that broke out on 29 November in the southern city of Osh between Islamic militants and security forces. The militants, who were allegedly linked to the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and were planning terrorist attacks in the country, got killed by government forces. Previously, on 29 November, Interior Minister Zarylbek Rysaliev announced that nine people said to have been planning terrorist attack across the country were arrested last week. The Head of the Security Council, Marat Imankulov, told the media that all three incidents were connected to each other. “The explosive devices were made by specialists who were possibly trained in special terrorist camps”, he said. The incidents occurred ahead of a visit by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on 3 December. The visit follows the OSCE Summit which will take place in Astana, Kazakhstan on 1 and 2 December. The U.S. has an important airbase in Kyrgyzstan for supplying international troops in Afghanistan.

OSCE mission
Simultaneously the OSCE has announced that it will send some 30 policemen on a mission to the south of Kyrgyzstan in early 2011, with the task of improving inter-ethnic relations. Earlier this year the OSCE had already planned to send a 52-member police mission to Kyrgyzstan, but faced Kyrgyz protests. In June the southern region was the stage of clashes between ethnic Kyrgyz and ethnic Uzbeks, during which more than 400 people were killed.

UPDATE 05-12-2010: On 4 December President Otunbaeva announced that she has instructed Omuberk Babanov, leader of the Respublika Party, to form a coalition government. This means that the coalition that was formed by Almazbek Atambaev of the Social Democratic Party already has collapsed. It nominated a new speaker of the Kyrgyz parliament but the candidate failed to get elected. Babanov now has 15 working days to unite the fractious parliament. If he fails, the legislature will be granted only one more try. According to the constitution, new elections must be held after three unsuccessful attempts to form a government.

Sources: RFERL, BBC, The Guardian