Land seizures challenge interim authority

Social problems kept in check during the authoritarian era of former president Askar Akayev are already surfacing in Kyrgyzstan, three weeks after he was removed from office by protesters angry at election results, grinding poverty and corruption by the ruling family. On 7 April, tension was raised when people began to seize land on the southern outskirts of the capital Bishkek, demanding that they be granted legal title that they say they were deprived of under the former regime. They say they are part of a 14,000-strong movement demanding access to lucrative real estate close to the capital. Protest leaders established headquarters in traditional dome-shaped yurt tents on the edge of the city, while others roped off land plots they said corrupt Akayev-era officials had prevented them from buying. But the protest has attracted a number of opportunists eager to exploit the current lack of substantive authority in the country, like Muratbek, a poor southerner who came north to the capital to seek a better life. When he heard rumours of the land grab, he was quick to join in. "This is the land of people and everybody has a right to it. Moreover, we overthrew Akayev and we are entitled to be rewarded for that," Muratbek told IRIN, pointing out the plot he says he now owns, delineated by string from that of a neighbour's. An interim government under Kurmanbek Bakiyev was established in the Central Asian country following the demise of Akayev. The new leadership has recognised the recently elected parliament and called presidential elections for 10 July. On Monday, the parliament approved Akayev's voluntary resignation, but deprived him of state benefits and privileges. The land seizures have highlighted the national north-south divide and caused dissatisfaction among Bishkek residents who blame "poor people from the south" for the takeovers. The anti-Akayev protest began in the south of the country and spread north as thousands of demonstrators descended on the capital vowing to unseat the government. On Sunday, some 500 Bishkek residents, unhappy at the southern influx, protested on the central square, shouting "Bakiyev, out!”, and promised to continue until the land grabs stopped. The capital is home to hundreds of thousands of economic migrants from poorer provinces. Bakiyev has voiced concern at the situation. On Monday he said that the "self-initiated seizure of land should not happen" and that "provocateurs" were destabilising the country. "This [land seizure] is the result of accumulated problems of migration. Thus, people in search of earnings for daily bread came to Bishkek. They rent apartments and live in inhuman conditions. Now, they have found an opportunity to take land in the capital. But I think many wealthier people are just taking advantage of the situation. There were many cars at the seizures, which the poor could not afford," acting vice-prime minister on social issues, Ishengul Boldjurova, told IRIN. The interim government, that has vowed to put an end to corruption and cronyism, has tried to reduce tension by allocating 535 ha of land in an industrial part of the capital to satisfy the need for land and a stake in society. "But we are not satisfied with the state's offer. We want land here," Mayram, a migrant from the southern city of Osh, told IRIN, from the land seizure site. But the new authorities said the land that is being illegally occupied has been zoned for luxury housing and that they must move. "The land that was seized is in an elite district of Bishkek where multi-apartment buildings are soon due to be built," interim vice-minister on economic issues, Daniar Usenov, said at a meeting with the land protesters at the weekend.