Postcard from Bishkek

December 10th, 1936, and Britain was in the midst of constitutional crisis.

King Edward VII had assumed the throne of some eleven months earlier.  He was a bachelor but some time had been accompanied on official visits by Wallis Simpson, an American who was not only married but twice married; her first having ended in divorce in 1927.  That summer, the two of them had gone off together, on a cruise in the Eastern Mediterranean and whilst most of Britain remained unaware of these events due to a self imposed blackout in the British media, extensive coverage was available throughout the rest of the world.  There was a lot of speculation in the foreign press that the couple were intending to marry each other, as soon as Mrs. Simpson as soon as she was free to do so.

At the end of October, she filed for divorce.   It looked as if a royal wedding was imminent.  In a conference with Stanley Baldwin, his Prime Minister, the King told him that he did indeed intend to marry Mrs. Simpson.  Baldwin responded by saying that such a marriage would not be acceptable to the people.  In the days that followed there were consultations amongst the leaders of the countries that made up the British Empire, and they confirmed Baldwin’s view.

On December 1st, Alfred Blunt, the Bishop of Bradford, gave an address to a conference in which referred to the King’s need for “divine Grace”, which the Press took for “blunt talk” about the situation and a signal to end their self imposed censorship.

Two days later, Mrs. Simpson, as she still was, left Britain for France, in an attempt to escape the intense attention from the press.  Opposition to the liaison between the King and Mrs. Mounted and at a conference in Cannes, Mrs. Simpson was asked by her lawyers to consider withdrawing the divorce petition.   She refused but phoned Edward to say that she was prepared to give him up so that he could stay King.  He refused the offer.

On December 10th, he signed the instrument of abdication which was witnessed by his three younger brothers.  That wasn’t quite the end of the crisis because this then had to be approved by the Parliament in London and also those in each of the Dominions, but that proved to be a formality.

And the rest, as they say, is history.

 

The world, of course, is different these days.  It’s hard to imagine such a furor being generated these days, and the British government has initiated steps to remove many of the constitutional blocks on who can and cannot succeed to the British throne.

We’ve had our fair share of constitutional crises here in Bishkek over the last few years – and not just the last two years.  The latest is the collapse of the parliamentary coalition when Almazbek Atambaev assumed the presidency.

It should have been a formality.  The Prime Minister wins the election and assumes the highest office in the land, which required him to relinquish the post of Prime Minister.  The resignation of the Prime Minister triggers that of the government.  The coalition starts negotiations to select a new government, the composition of which is then put to the Parliament for approval.

The fly in the ointment, however, came when one of the parties in the coalition, Atambaev’s own SDPK, announced that it would withdraw from the coalition creating the need for negotiations to create a new coalition, not just a new government.

With what he calls “impeccable timing”, British Labour Party MP Kerry McCarthy arrived in Bishkek to address a conference on the day the coalition collapsed.  His blog entry doesn’t tell us much about the conference but does give an interesting description of his walk about town.

Those discussions at creating a new coalition have started, but it’s not clear how smoothly they are progressing.  One party, for example, has said that they will join only if their leader becomes Prime Minister whilst the SDPK say that things will be better if the two top jobs in the country are filled by people from one party – that is the SDPK, (although, technically speaking, Atambaev is no longer a member of the party, as the constitution requires that the President doesn’t belong to one.)

To make matters more interesting, (or is that worse), there is an attempt to unseat the speaker of the parliament.  He is accused of spending taxpayers money needlessly on foreign trips and sometimes private trips.  There is also an accusation of a meeting between him and “a notorious underworld boss” allegedly involved in trafficking narcotics.  It has been reported that one of his former security guards has been detained by the authorities and is undergoing interrogation, but it’s not clear what about, (it looks as if it is to do with the death of Medet Sadykulov during the time of the Bakiev regime).  Some of his supporters from his home district in the south took what has become the traditional Kyrgyz reaction and took to the streets to stage protests and blocking roads, whilst others here in Bishkek held a press conference.  There were calls for his resignation, but he refused to go and so this will all come to a head on Monday with a vote of no confidence.  The speaker belongs to the largest party in the parliament, a member of the former coalition and widely seen as nationalist, combining supporters of the former Bakiev regime.  If they lose the vote on Monday, then it looks as if they are out of the coalition, which will not only make life in the parliament more difficult in the time ahead but also raise the prospect of a more distinct divide between North and South, (if such a thing were possible).

It is hoped that a new coalition will be agreed and in place before the end of the year.

There is a lot of pressure on the new President and whatever new government is formed to deliver on the economic front and improve the standard of living for the ordinary “man in the street.”  Some activists have started a campaign demanding “reforms in 100 days”.  Now that the process of legitimization of the government after last year’s revolution is over, they say, now it is time for radical reforms which cannot be delayed any more:  “People are tired waiting for changes and they have a just sense of disaffection,” they say, ”If crucial changes are not happen the country should wait for a protest wave with unpredictable consequences.”

As it happens, Kyrgyzstan’s economic results actually seem to be quite promising, but that seems to me to be a result of the fact they nearly all involve a comparison to the situation last year which, as we all know was far from usual and pretty depressing.   Industrial output, for example, is up by an impressive 80%; thanks to falling food prices, (which is a global phenomenon), inflation seems to be under control, (less than 5%!); real wage levels seem to have risen by 6%; remittances from Kyrgyz working abroad are up by 35% … and so on.  Reading the reports made me wonder if we really were living in a paradise on earth.

There are some problems, however, especially when you consider the regional variations within the country, (which is really quite a small country).  The divide between North and South is pretty striking across all the statistics and in quite an interesting report, the UNDP started waving warning flags about the possible implications for the future.

On the other hand, if the mining industry has been experiencing problems, especially with the local communities where they operate, then they are not alone.  A Chinese company which was constructing an oil refinery in the more prosperous North, suspended work this week over another dispute with the local population.  (As an aside, the judge dealing with the case against a couple of suspects detained over the attack on a gold mine earlier in the year was beaten up in his office during the week).

Another article reported on another potentially rumbling volcano which might erupt, due to things like problems with fuel supplies in the south, where prices are rising quite dramatically,

There have been a number of interesting stories this week about migrants … one was a fairly depressing piece about the experiences of Kyrgyz migrants who have moved to Moscow and discovered that it is not just a case that the streets are not paved with gold, but that there are all sorts of problems facing them.  The other featured students from India who travel to Kyrgyzstan to study medicine.  Another report concentrated on how some of these students are targets for unscrupulous police who apparently extort money from them.

 

The traditional practice of Ala Kachuu, kidnapping a bride, has been getting a lot of attention recently.  Even the Kyrgyz mufti is opposed to it and according to one press report, is so outraged by it that he is calling for the death penalty for it. This week even saw an article posted on the CNN website which sent a lot people, noticeably a lot of expats like myself, into overdrive of indignation; not just about the practice itself but about some of the journalism and the fact, deplorable as it is, Ala Kachuu is “not something that defines Kyrgyzstan, its culture or its population.”

During the week there has been a lot of discussion of the proposal to implement reforms of the visa regime, introducing a 90 day visa free regime for citizens of some 41 countries.  The battle lines are drawn up with few surprises as to who is for and who is against the proposed measure.  The security services are stressing that it would threaten the security of the country and open us to terrorism threats … apparently some six people with terrorist connections have been detained at the borders this year, from China, Turkey and Russia.  The Chinese surprised me because it is very difficult for them to get a visa anyway, but the government has only just introduced a 90 day visa free regime for Turkey.  I find it hard to imagine how many terrorist they expect to emerge from the likes of Switzerland or Luxembourg, and what’s more, I don’t see the security services calling for the introduction of a visa regime for the Russians in order to protect Kyrgyzstan from this apparent hotbed of terrorism.  The debate continues, and I’ll no doubt return to this subject in the future.

At least some officials want to do something to encourage tourism.  The Ministry of Youth wants to create a cycle path around Lake Issyk Kul.  The plan is for 450 kilometers of cycle track, 2 meters wide, to be created between 100 and 150 meters from the shore, separate from the road and possible other facilities for recreation, shops and workshops for maintenance.  The plan should please many of the cyclists who find the road treacherous as motorists zoom by without any care for their two-wheeled compatriots … but that still leaves the main road up to the lake through Boom Gorge for them to negotiate.  It’s all in the planning stage however, and it doesn’t look as if they have the necessary finance yet, but if the project is implemented, then it is hoped that it will create work for about 120 young people.

At long last we now have a British embassy here in Bishkek … but no building as yet.  For the moment they are operating out of the offices of DFID, (the Department for International Development – the British Aid agency), here in Bishkek.  Oh, yes, and no ambassador.  She’s been appointed but doesn’t arrive until February, but her deputy Head of Mission arrived and started work on Thursday.  Much to the disappointment of the locals, there is also no visa and consular section.  Kyrgyz citizens who want to apply for a visa to visit Britain will still have to travel up to Almaty.

Having just gone through a tax inspection, (which ended well, I happy to say, the inspector finding no infringements of the regulations), I was intrigued to see articles suggesting drastic reforms to the tax system.  In particular, there was the suggestion of implementing a form of flat sum tax which took little or no account of income/profit.  I am not sure that the suggestion stands much chance of being accepted, but it has certainly raised a few eyebrows.

The Interior ministry are reporting high success rates in solving serious crimes like murder and rape … 91% and 96% respectively, but, as usual, I found the reports more worrying by some of the facts or commentary that seemed to be left out of them.

The police have detained the director and bursar of a school here in Bishkek for demanding money from student’s families for things like repairs.  State education is supposed to be provided free of charge, but many schools have imposed such charges and one group of children recorded a teacher going into a tirade about those who hadn’t paid up and the parents gave the clip to the authorities who went into action.

One of the deputies has proposed a ban on the sale of alcohol to anyone under 21 and to prosecute anyone who helps anyone underage to purchase alcohol.

Osh seems to be in the news again, this time over a proposal to ban the Uzbek language in schools.  The deputy mayor says that the suggestion came from the Uzbek community, which seems rather strange.   Some ethnic Uzbeks say that if Uzbeks did make the suggestion, it was under duress.  “We want our children to have access to mother-tongue education. Even the Communists didn’t deprive us of education in Uzbek,” said one, “Look which Uzbeks make such statements – only those who work for the government.”  Of Kyrgyzstan’s 2,191 public schools, 63% teach in Kyrgyz, 7% in Russian, 65 in Uzbek, less than 1% in Tajik, and the remaining 23% are multilingual, according to the Ministry of Education.

There’s been a suggestion that, although a law was passed last year outlawing casinos, litigation is planned by the owners of the casinos and looks as if the matter won’t go away in 2012, despite the ban.  It was even suggested that they might be legalized again just as quickly as they were banned.  If so, it wouldn’t be the first time something like this has happened in Kyrgyzstan.

The American airbase is till in the news.  At least one American commentator seems to think that Atambaev is bluffing when he threatens closure.  Another report, however, suggests that the Kazakhs are preparing to offer Aktau as a replacement transit base, (which they apparently want to turn into a general transport hub – just as Atambaev wants Manas to become), and there is even talk about how Uzbekistan is playing a significant role in the Northern Distribution Network.

Outreach from the airbase to the local community continues with various charitable projects, which seem to get fair coverage in the American media.  One interesting example, however, might cause a few raised eyebrows.  Apparently one of the chaplains has been attending a local Baptists church and even delivered a sermon.  In theory, that shouldn’t prove to be a problem, but one can never be sure how local sensitivities might interpret the situation.  Not that I have seen any comment in the local media … yet.

What has hit the news is a report that a car with diplomatic number plates was involved in an accident in the vicinity of the base in which a girl died.  There have also been suggestions that the information in the early reports got some of the details wrong and that it had nothing to do with the base … whatever, it has a sense of déjà vu whether the original reports are correct or the later ones.

Meanwhile, the Kyrgyz army have their own problems.  Fifteen conscripts have apparently gone AWOL, but it’s not clear why, although the authorities are adamant it is nothing to do with “hazing”.  Their families don’t seem to know anything and have joined the authorities in the search for the missing servicemen.

 

When it comes the choice of the quirkiest story of the week, we have been blessed with several likely candidates:

A welder in the village of Mangit, near Aravan in the Osh oblast of Southern Kyrgyzstan, has made a new Jeep which he calls a “Kyrgyzskovo”.  He got the idea from a vehilcle he saw in Afghanistan and made his hybrid from spare parts cannibalized from old cars, (UAZ, Volga and a Lada), which he accumulated over a two year period.  Some of the locals have been impressed with it’s performance over the rough local terrain, (although it’s not particularly good for long journeys), and ask to rent the Kyrgyzskovo to transport goods, (coal, potatoes, manure), whilst others have wanted to order their own from him.  The authorities, however, are not impressed, “unauthorized assembly of vehicles is illegal,” said an official from the vehicle registration office in Osh, “he may be brought to justice”.  Kyrgyzpatent, however, takes a different point of view.

Then there was the news that, in their paper published in a paleontological journal, some scientists in Russia have named a newly discovered species of dinosaur Kyrgyzsaurus, after the remains of the creature, (which lived in the Triassic Period – between 225 and 230 million years ago), were found in the Madygen area of Southern Kyrgyzstan.  However, I don’t think Tyrannosaurus Rex is likely to be quaking in fear that he is going to be ousted from his regal position in the same that Kyrgyz Presidents have been ousted from the White House.

Maybe it’s just me but an outstanding candidate was that the German aid agency GIZ has conducted a SWOT analysis of the Kyrgyz economy.  Amongst the weaknesses that they identified were: a – lack of local raw materials; a dependence upon imports; physically dilapidated and out-of-date production equipment; the non-competitiveness of Kyrgyz manufactured goods by virtue of their price and quality; an acute shortage of qualified personnel and specialists; a shortage of available capital and the high interest rates of commercial loans; poor interaction between the state and business.  No major surprises there!  On the other hand they also identified several strengths of Kyrgyz industry, including: relatively cheap labour costs; access to traditional market outlets in the CIS countries and favorable conditions for import deals.   No major surprises there either.  Opportunities were provided by:  a transport infrastructure linking the country with the CIS states; experience of doing business in market conditions a relatively attractive investment climate and open trade policy.  Now some of those were a little surprising – at least to me.  Potential threats that were listed included were: political instability; the growth of world prices for energy; deterioration of the environment; changes related to Russia’s entry into WTO and competition from China.  I must admit that when I read the report, I wondered how much the analysis cost and what the German taxpayer might make of this expenditure.  To be fair, however, it’s good to have expert confirmation of what I think we all knew anyway.  Sorry, that’s the cynic in me coming out again.

But the winner for that coveted prize should really go to the press conference given by a former presidential candidate and his supporters.  They called for a change in a constitution – so far, no surprises there, several people have been saying similar things for some time.  Apart from those who want to revert to a Presidential style of government, one of the respected human rights campaigners has pointed out how there are inconsistencies and misprints in the current document.  This time, however, in their his call for constitution reform , the speakers claimed to have received a message from outer space, (now, that was a surprise), which said in essence is that Kyrgyzstan is the center of the world, (perhaps that’s not so surprising, after all, the Greeks thought Delphi was the centre of the world, didn’t they?), and the Kyrgyz will become the ancestors of a new civilization, (hmmm … ).  Well, we’ll see … One of the speakers certainly thinks so.  Apparently, some of the journalists were openly laughing at some of the statements being made and so he made a prophecy “as a form of confirmation” with the challenge: “You wait, you’ll see, then we’ll see whose laughing”   According to his prophecy, this year there will be no winter and Europe will be submerged in a flood.

 

As you can see, it’s been a busy week.  Who said this was supposed to be a quiet time for those of working in tourism?

Meanwhile, Atambaev has started to make his mark.  One of first decisions was to replace the head of the security services.  Interestingly, although his choice for the post has several years of experience in the Ministry of the Interior, apparently he doesn’t have any experience of working with the security services.

No constitutional crisis there … but we’ll have to wait and see – what happens down south and what unfolds in the parliament on Monday.

Postcard from Bishkek: the weekly postcard that I send out as an email also gets posted on the website ianbek.kg each week – and there are other postcards which don’t get sent out.  This week, for example, there were posts about:  ***

 

We have added four new panoramas to www.see.kg: three of Ala Too square in Bishkek and another of Prospekt Erkindik at night.

It is now possible to follow me on Facebook, (where I have specific pages for Celestial Mountains and ianbek), and on twitter, (@Bishkekpostcard).

 

 

If you decide that you don’t want to receive these weekly postcards in your email anymore, please drop me a line to  and I will take you off the distribution list.  Alternatively, if you know someone who might be interested in being added to the mailing list, then get them to drop me a line and I’ll be happy to do so.

 

 

Tags: Expat, Life_in_Kyrgyzstan, Weekly_Postcards