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PONARS Eurasia
PONARS Eurasia
  • About
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RECOMMENDED
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  • Policy Memos | Аналитика
  • PONARS Eurasia

Is Kyrgyzstan’s New Political System Sustainable?

  • October 19, 2012
  • Shairbek Juraev

Speaking in July 2011 on the occasion of the one-year anniversary of Kyrgyzstan’s new constitution, then-President Roza Otunbaeva declared that the key task for the Kyrgyz citizenry was “to make a return to authoritarianism impossible.” Her comment conveyed both a celebratory note about the eradication of the previous authoritarian regime and pointed to the key threat going forward.

A multiparty parliament, a three-party coalition government, and a divided executive with a significantly weakened presidency are the main features of Kyrgyzstan’s new political system, now two years old. It is a set-up that the authorities boldly call parliamentary rule. The June 2010 referendum on the constitution and parliamentary and presidential elections in October 2010 and October 2011 passed peacefully (contrary to many predictions) and generated some cautiously positive assessment.

In light of the forceful overthrows of recent Kyrgyz rulers, however, and in the context of post-color revolution developments in Ukraine and Georgia, one may wonder whether Bishkek has achieved an equilibrium that will last or whether it has merely reached a temporary stage in a revolutionary/authoritarian cycle. Looking at certain key political features such as political fragmentation and elite dynamics, this memo argues that the current regime can best be characterized as one of “feckless pluralism” (to borrow a term from expert Thomas Carothers) and that this system can endure. […]

More (PDF)

Memo #:
210
Series:
2
PDF:
pepm210.pdf
PDF URL:
https://ponarseurasia.org/wp-content/uploads/attachments/pepm210.pdf
Shairbek Juraev
Website | + posts
Co-founder and President, Crossroads Central Asia; Associate Research Fellow, OSCE Academy in Bishkek

Affiliation

Crossroads Central Asia

Links

Crossroads Central Asia

Expertise

Development in Post-Soviet Central Asia, Comparative Politics, Central Asia Water and Energy Issues
  • Shairbek Juraev
    https://www.ponarseurasia.org/members/shairbek-juraev/
    What Drives Border Conflicts in Central Asia? Roots of the Deadly Violence on the Kyrgyz-Tajik Border
  • Shairbek Juraev
    https://www.ponarseurasia.org/members/shairbek-juraev/
    The Current Hostilities between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan: Commentary by Dzhuraev, McGlinchey, Markowitz, and Schatz
  • Shairbek Juraev
    https://www.ponarseurasia.org/members/shairbek-juraev/
    Turbulence in Kyrgyzstan: a hijacked revolution or business as usual?
  • Shairbek Juraev
    https://www.ponarseurasia.org/members/shairbek-juraev/
    Kyrgyzstan - New Mayors Elected in Bishkek and Osh
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  • Juraev
  • Kyrgyzstan
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