Power struggle intensifies following Akayev's resignation

Deposed Kyrgyz president, Askar Akayev, signed his resignation on Monday, marking the end of an era and a step toward restoring political order in the Central Asian republic less than two weeks after he was forced out of office. The official resignation ceremony was held in the office of the Kyrgyz Embassy in the Russian capital Moscow. A speech by the former leader, addressing the Kyrgyz nation, was expected to be aired on Kyrgyz national television on Wednesday. There were some muted celebrations in the capital Bishkek, but one resident summed up a common feeling that the president had not been a tyrant, but had simply remained at the helm for too long. "We should remember that Akayev was not all bad. We can thank him that democracy in Kyrgyzstan is more advanced than in neighbouring countries," Elina Medetkanova, a government employee, told IRIN. Others were less charitable to the man who had ruled the former communist republic since before independence in 1991. "It's good that he [Akayev] resigned, recent events showed that the ruling regime had totally ignored public demands and grievances. If Akayev had spoken to the people from the very beginning of the protests, the events of 24 March would not have happened," Nurbek Osmonbaev, another resident of Bishkek, told IRIN. According to the power transfer agreement, Akayev will enjoy all privileges bestowed on an ex-president as laid out in the Kyrgyz constitution. "Akayev's resignation was timely. This is a chance for Kyrgyzstan to move towards democracy. Now it's important for the 80 ethnic groups living in the country to open honest debates on where we should go as a nation," Tolekan Ismailova, head of the local NGO, Civil Society Against Corruption, told IRIN. Akayev resigned 11 days after street protests in Bishkek that led to his disappearance and the storming of key government buildings amid minimal police resistance. The protests were over parliamentary elections that many foreign observers said fell far below international standards. But the discontent that arose in the volatile south was also motivated by poverty and growing levels of unemployment since 1991. Kurmanbek Bakiev was appointed acting president on 25 March. A former prime minister, Bakiev was forced to resign in 2002 after five protesters were killed by police at a political rally. He is from the southern city of Jalal-Abad, where the first large-scale protests against Akayev began early last month. On 11 February 2005, the opposition newspaper MSN published a list of businesses owned by Akayev or his family members. Many of these successful companies, including the Narodnii Magazin ("People's Store") chain and cellular phone giant BiTel, suffered substantial looting damage on the night of 24 March. Much of the credit for stopping the chaos went to Felix Kulov, who was released from prison on the night the opposition seized power. A former Bishkek mayor and vice-president, Kulov also headed the State Security Bureau (SNB) under Akayev. Kulov was jailed in 2002 under charges of corruption, which the US says were "politically motivated." He was reappointed security minister on 25 March, although resigned less than a week later after an apparent falling out with Bakiev. The chairman of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Dmitrij Rupel, warned of the deepening rivalry between the two. "It's something that should concern us all," he said. Other well-connected individuals are vying for power in the post-Akayev political vacuum. Askar Salymbekov, former governor of the central province of Naryn, won a seat in the elections. A successful businessman, Salymbekov owns the Dordoi Bazaar, the largest market in Kyrgyzstan. His victory is being challenged in court, and about 75 of his employees protested in his support outside parliament on Monday. Kulov has stated that he will run for president in the planned June 26 elections. He is from the wealthier north of Kyrgyzstan, and earlier this week echoed the MSN newspaper's warning of possible civil war now the government's ouster. "Counter-revolution may occur. There are individuals who will attempt to take advantage of instability to retain influence," he told the regional news website, EurasiaNet. Bakiev, in contrast, urged calm on Monday. "Today, I can definitely say that the situation is stabilising and that life is returning to normal," he told Voice of America (VOA). But in Osh, the main city in southern Kyrgyzstan, where anti-Akayev protests started, police colonel Uran Aliyev was shot four times in the head outside his house in the early hours of Tuesday morning, an interior ministry spokesman said.