European Forum

Kyrgyz government resigns

Kyrgyzstan’s cabinet resigned on October 20 following President Kurmanbek Bakiyev’s announcement of broad plan to restructure the government. Political experts in Bishkek offered guarded praise for Bakiyev’s reform scheme, with some suggesting that it represented perhaps the last, best hope for his administration to contain corruption in the Central Asian state.

Intended reforms
Among the major changes envisaged by Bakiyev, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the State Committee for National Security -- known by its Russian acronym, SNB -- would come under the president’s direct control. Other offices within the executive branch would be reorganized, while approximately 40 percent of central government employees would be laid off. Bakiyev said his reform agenda seeks to reduce corruption, streamline government bureaucracy and make the process of selecting top officials more transparent and competitive. "The presidential administration is being abolished. A presidential institution is being set up in its place. It will be a system of inter-cooperating bodies with clearly divided powers designed to efficiently exercise the president’s powers and to bring about its functioning as a single centre for making decisions," Bakiyev said. "The experience of post-Soviet countries shows that personnel changes, without a [corresponding] change in the system of administration, [produces] nothing more than pseudo-reform. This does not lead, and will not lead to any results," the president continued. Given that the pro-presidential political forces enjoy a dominating majority in parliament, Bakiyev’s reform program is expected to win fast legislative approval. 

Resignation of the government
Paving the way for Bakiyev’s reform package, Prime Minister Igor Chudinov submitted his resignation immediately after the President unveiled his reform intentions. By law, Chudinov’s move triggered the resignation of the entire cabinet. Bakiyev quickly accepted the resignations, but asked ministers to stay on as an acting government until his ruling Ak Jol Party would select a new Prime Minister, who will then form a new cabinet. On 21 October President Bakiyev has signed a decree to appoint Daniyar Usenov to the Prime Minister’s post, after a solid vote of the major parliament fraction Ak Jol supported his candidacy. Usenov said that the new government of Kyrgyzstan should be formed urgently. President Bakiyev outlined that he was “satisfied with work of the previous government that is why the majority of ministers will be called back to their former positions. Therewith, there will be some reshuffles connected with changing of ministries’ status. New faces will surely appear in the government.” 

Experts are positive 
Political analyst Mars Sariev characterized Bakiyev’s reform package as a make-or-break move for his personal political future. "This is an issue of survival for Bakiyev," Sariev said. "I think the old way of dealing with people in the system, where corruption, [the improper use of] contacts and bribing were taking place, will change. Bakiyev has no other way. If he doesn’t change [the system], social tension will keep growing." Bakiyev critics are assailing the reform plan as insufficient and ill-conceived. One of the president’s most prominent political opponents described the reforms as a disguised power grab. "Kurmanbek Bakiyev simply deprived the government of some authority and assigned it to himself," said Azimbek Beknazarov of the Unified Opposition Movement, a loose alliance of several opposition parties. While legislative approval is not expected to be a problem, analysts say that the reforms could well bog down due to likely resistance from within the state’s bureaucratic machinery. In addition, the reforms could produce some unforeseen side-effects caused by expected infighting among political factions within Bakiyev’s administration. 


Sources: Eurasianet, Radio Free Europe, google images (picture)