Parliamentary election in Kyrgyzstan 2005
The 2005 parliamentary elections in Kyrgyzstan took place in two rounds - on February 27 and March 13. Over 400 candidates applied for the 75 seats in the unicameral parliament of Jogorku Kengesch at that time .
In the aftermath of the election, as in Georgia and Ukraine , a revolution broke out, which eventually forced President Askar Akayev to resign. The events are also known as the tulip revolution , after the symbol of the opposition, the mountain tulip . This was the headline of Russian newspapers at the beginning of the events.
Unrest before the election
In the weeks leading up to the elections, protests broke out across the country because the courts had rejected candidates. Of the originally more than 400 candidates, 390 were admitted shortly before the start of the election.
Results
69 seats went to government candidates. Only 6 seats fell to the opposition.
| Political party | Mandates |
|---|---|
| Independent | 47 |
| Alga Kyrgysstan (previous ruling party) | 17th |
| Opposition alliance "Council for the Unity of the People" | 6th |
| Communist Party | 3 |
| Social Democratic Party of Kyrgyzstan | 1 |
In its reports of February 28 and May 20, 2005, the OSCE found that the parliamentary elections had not met international standards.
Post-election riots
Popular protests began after the election results were announced, especially in the western and southern areas of Kyrgyzstan. On March 18, protesters stormed government buildings in the cities of Jalalabat and Osh , and in Toktogul the provincial governor and a public prosecutor were arrested by demonstrators.
In the early hours of March 20th, police forces attempted to retake the buildings. Several demonstrators and a police officer were injured and several hundred civilians were temporarily detained. A nearby police station in Jalalabat was devastated by demonstrators. On March 21, a regional administration building, a police station and a TV station and the airport in Osh were stormed by around 1,000 demonstrators, and the next day something similar happened in Pulgon .
Hundreds of people demonstrated for the first time in Bishkek on March 23, but were immediately dispersed by the police. Among the temporarily detained were opposition journalists, students, NGO representatives and members of the revolutionary youth movement KelKel . Other cities also came under opposition control.
President Akayev ordered a review of the election results in the troubled regions by the central electoral commission and on March 23 dismissed the interior minister and attorney general. On March 24, protesters stormed the government building in the capital. President Akayev resigned, as did Prime Minister Nikolai Tanayev . On the evening of March 24, Ischenbai Kadyrbekow was elected interim president by the upper house of the old parliament, but was not confirmed by the lower house. On the morning of March 25, former Prime Minister Kurmanbek Bakiyev announced that he had been elected as the incumbent head of state and government. Within the next few days the new parliament was recognized and both houses of the old dissolved.
Effects
In the meantime, Bakiyev appointed ministers to his government. Felix Kulow , only released from custody on March 24 and appointed as security coordinator, resigned from this post just five days later and announced his candidacy for the next presidential election. The Supreme Constitutional Court denied Akayev - who fled to Moscow via Kazakhstan, where Vladimir Putin granted him asylum - all rights as president. On April 4, Akayev signed his resignation letter in the Kyrgyz embassy in Moscow, and the Kyrgyz Parliament ratified it on April 11, after having stripped Akayev and his family of a number of privileges that had been bestowed upon them in recent years. New presidential elections were scheduled for July 10th. Bakiyev won this after agreeing to share power with Kulov. Kulow became head of government in August. A new presidential party called Ak Dschol was then founded by Bakiyev.
Web links
- Masses that are difficult to tame FAZ Online, March 23, 2005.
- Calm returns in Bishkek ( Memento from August 21, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) NZZ Online, March 26, 2005.
- Kyrgyzstan in the permanent crisis Deutsche Welle Online, May 12, 2006.
Individual evidence
- ↑ IFES Election Guide, Country Profile: Kyrgyzstan , entry from February 28, 2005
- ^ Result of the parliamentary elections 2005 on uni-kassel.de
- ^ OSCE reports on the 2005 parliamentary elections
