Postcard from Bishkek

The 1968 British entry for the Eurovision Song Contest was “Congratulations” sung by Harry Roger Webb, or Cliff Richard as he is better known.  A popular song, it surprised everyone by being beaten into second place by the Spanish entry.

According to the New Musical Express, NME, there may well have been a little skullduggery involved in order to prevent Britain from winning the contest two years running.  This is just one example of the controversies that seem to surround the competition … which are not limited to the vagaries of the voting system.  One of my friends says that it’s a bit like Marmite in that: “you either love it, or you hate it”.  I don’t think I agree with him … I neither love it, nor hate it … I am pretty indifferent to it … especially as living here for the last fifteen years, my exposure to the annual event has been pretty limited.  I know, for example, that the song from Germany won the competition this year whilst the British entry came in last, (although, with10 votes, it managed to avoid the ignominy suffered by many countries in the past of scoring “nul points”.)  To be honest, however, I only know that because  I was researching for this postcard.

Those who “hate” the programme often refer to the quality, (or lack of …), of many of the entries.  Many countries vote for the friends and neighbours – Greece and Cyprus always giving each other maximum votes … former countries of the USSR voting for countries that had once been part of the former superpower – or for countries that share a common language.  Richard Stillgoe, a British musician and songwriter famous for satirical witty wordplays, once did a skit on how to write a successful Eurovision entry … and pointed out that one word which is common to most European languages is: “Beefsteak”,  so he suggested writing a “fairground” jinggly tune to which the word Beefsteak could be repeated over and over again: “Beefsteak, beefsteak, la la la la“.

To be fair, however, over the years the contest has produced a number of very good songs. Two of the the classic examples being: Waterloo by Abba and, (of course), Congratulations.

Cliff Richard’s song has achieved an anthem like status and is played at the drop of a hat for almost any celebration, despite the fact that it is really a song about love and not always appropriate.  I am a bit surprised that I haven’t heard it over and over again this week as congratulatory messages have been flooding in to Roza Otunbaeva following her inauguration as President after the final, definitive, results of the Referendum were announced.

The ceremony was duly televised and much has been made of the fact that is not only first woman to hold the post in Kyrgyzstan, but in the whole of Central Asia.

One interesting point worth noting was the Presidential oath that she swore on assuming office.  I was reminded of the mishap during the Obama inauguration, where a small deviation in the wording prescribed by the constitution necessitated the Attorney General readministering the oath a few days later in the confines of the Oval office.  The former constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic also prescribed the wording for the Presidential Oath of Office:

“I,…while taking the obligations of the President of the Kyrgyz Republic, before my People and the Sacred Motherland Ala-Too do swear: to observe and protect the Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic; to guard the sovereignty and independence of the Kyrgyz State; to respect and guarantee the rights and freedoms of all citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic; to perform faithfully the high duties of the President of the Kyrgyz Republic entrusted to me by the confidence of all the People!”

The new constitution, however, (the one adopted in the referendum), simply states that the President shall take an oath before the people … presumably allowing the new incumbent some choice in what they promise to do … and this is the oath that Roxa Otunbaeva took:

“I, Roza Isakovna Otunbaeva, assuming presidential duties swear before my people and the Motherland to scrupulously observe Constitution and laws, to protect sovereignty and independence of the country, to respect rights and freedoms of all citizens of Kyrgyzstan, to work honestly and openly and to perform presidential duties properly to justify expectations and hopes of the people.”

In many respects the two are similar, but I found the choice of some of the wording very interesting.

Things are beginning to get back to normal, at least here in Bishkek.  The police check posts on the outskirts of the city have been dismantled and the Russians have withdrawn the additional troops that they sent to guard their airbase at Kant – about 30kms from Bishkek.   People are going about their daily business and sweltering in the heat of the summer sun.

It is not so clear what is happening down South.

There are still reports about anxieties and tensions between the different ethnic groups.  Calls for reconciliation people are being urged “not to trust rumours”.   There have been varying reports, all of them bad, about the extent of the damage incurred in the unrest … and it’s not clear how many buildings were destroyed or damaged, (which I would have thought should be fairly easy to determine), how many people were killed, (which will not be as easy), or the economic fallout of the events, (which will be almost impossible to calculate – actual damage in terms of physical damage can probably be calculated, but what about the loss of business, which is ongoing – and will be for some time to come).

Although refugees are returning home and only a few, for example, remain in Uzbekistan … many express concern about what they will find when they get home – and fears are already being expressed about how they cope during the long cold winter months.

There have been calls for reconciliation and, even if everything seems to be getting back to normal … no-one is taking anything for granted and, on the contrary, there are lots of people advising that “it’s not necessarily all over, yet.”   Several “experts” are giving advice about what the government and communities need to do in order to help bring about that reconciliation, drawing upon the experiences of places like South Africa, Northern Ireland and the Balkans.    Most of it seems to be pretty good advice to me and I hope that people are wise enough to take it … not just the government – to be effective, the necessary measures have to be rooted amongst the people themselves … they have to believe in and have confidence in the process.

I am not sure if the current investigations into the events will ease that sense of reconciliation … I hope so.  Some people have been arrested for their role in the events … weapons have been recovered … but only time will tell if all of this will be sufficient.

There have also been announcements about the efforts to be made to reconstruct and rebuild the South … not just to compensate those who have losses.  We hope it will be enough … and that it will actually materialize.

It won’t be cheap … but a lot of assistance has been promised … and a team of “experts” from the donor agencies are in town to consult about what needs to be done and to try and co-ordinate efforts.  Roza Otunbaeva has said that Kyrgyzstan won’t just on foreign aid, although there is a lot of it, just as there have been lots of “congratulatory messages”, from places as diverse as: Europe; America; Russia; Kazakhstan; China; Turkey; India; Egypt and even our neighbour Tajikistan.

As one commentator remarked, “You know you are in trouble when … you receive military aid from Tajikistan.”

Perhaps one useful piece of assistance was an announcement from President Nazarbaev of Kazakhstan to the effect that there is now no reason why Kazakhs shouldn’t travel to Issyk Kul for their holidays.  Personally, I doubt if it will make that much difference in reality – but it was good of him to say so … and who knows …?  Normally, the Kazakhs are the mainstay of the season in the resort zone, and the fact that there have been so few bookings does not bode well for those earn most of their annual income during the forty days of the high season each summer.

Attention is now turning to the elections due to be held on October 10th … (let’s hope that 10/10/10 will be an auspicious date!).  New political parties are sprouting up … there were already over 100 of them before the events in April … I haven’t seen an up-to-date count.

Despite the assertion in the constitution, (in all versions of the constitution, including the one that’s just been adopted in the referendum), that Kyrgyzstan is a secular state and religious parties are banned – at least one of the new parties has the recognition of Kyrgyzstan as a Muslim country as one of its basic aims.

Although the elections are still months away, the campaign has really started and everything has to be seen and judged in the context of the election as politicians consider their positions and make statements or announcements.

Everyone is saying that the election won’t be as quiet as the referendum.

I am reading an account of the Russian Revolution, or Revolutions, of 1917 and, (of course, this is looking back with hindsight) I have been struck by some of the similarities between then-and-there with the situation here-and-now … the causes behind the events, the attitudes and maneuverings of the parties … I just hope that we are able to learn from that experience and avoid the extremes of final result of that period.

At the moment, however, there is hope in the air … There may not have been the celebrations and jubilations that are referred to in the chorus of Cliff Richard’s song … but congratulations are in order, on the successful running of the referendum, on the positive result, on the inauguration of a new President.

Tags: Expat, Interesting_Times, Kyrgyzstan, Life_in_Kyrgyzstan, Weekly_Postcards