Election Review: Which Way is Kyrgyzstan Going?

Another recent election on the international scene occurred in the Central Asian country of Kyrgyzstan, which held its parliamentary elections on December 16, 2007. President Kurmanbek Bakiyev called the election three years ahead of schedule and as a result his party, Ak Zhol (True Path), won an overwhelming victory with 49% of the vote. The opposition party, Ata Meken, finished with a paltry 9% of the vote. But due to complicated election rules where certain regional thresholds had to be met, the Ak Zhol party received 71 seats in the new parliament, the Social Democrats received 11 seats, and the Communists received 8 seats.

In terms of some background information, Kyrgyzstan has a population of 5 million people and the capital city is Bishkek. It is also a former republic of the Soviet Union and it gained its independence after the USSR's collapse in 1991. The biggest historical event in recent years was the Tulip Revolution of 2005, when former president and leader since independence Askar Akayev was forced out of power due to mass protests (the color revolution has been a common trend among former Soviet republics). Bakiyev was elected in his place but he has had problems of his own since coming to office, in particular his protracted conflict with the country's parliament.

Some political analysts believe Bakiyev called this election early in order to consolidate his power and that appears to be the case. Bakiyev's party is now the dominant party in parliament and so he could probably implement many of his long-desired reforms. But it also appears that Bakiyev got his overwhelming majority in an unfair manner. International observers state the presence of widespread violations and with the election results being the way that they are, it is hard to argue against those claims.

That is very unfortunate too because Kyrgyzstan is considered by many to be Central Asia's best hope for democracy. I hope these violations are not a sign of things to come because it would be a shame to watch Bakiyev take his country onto an authoritarian path. Central Asia already has enough authoritarian rulers; what it could use even more are pluralistic and thriving democracies led by leaders who follow the rule of law and so I hope Bakiyev can be that leader.