President of Kyrgyzstan. History and personalities

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:46

The Republic of Kyrgyzstan is a unique case of a country whose constitution does not enshrine its state structure. Thus, the political life of the country is determined by tradition, which, despite the youth of the republic, has been eventful in the past twenty-five years.

Head of State

The first president of Kyrgyzstan after the declaration of independence was Askar Akaev, who ruled the country for fifteen years - from October 27, 1990 to April 11, 2005, when he was forced to resign under serious pressure from the opposition, who led the street protests that entered the story called the Tulip Revolution. The Kyrgyz revolution was one of the so-called color revolutions that swept through the post-Soviet space in the mid-2000s.

As a result of these events, Kurmanbek Bakiyev became the new president of Kyrgyzstan, who faced significant trials. In 2006, a parliamentary crisis broke out in the country, which revealed contradictions between the parliament and the president, and also testified to the need to amend the constitution.

On October 21, 2007, a referendum was held, which raised the issue of a new constitution.76.1% of voters voted for the introduction of the new basic law. Such massive support allowed the president of Kyrgyzstan to dissolve parliament and call new elections. Thus, a political system has taken shape, under which de facto the country has a parliamentary-presidential system.

Crisis of 2010

However, neither the reforms nor the removal of the former elite from power led to any significant changes in people's lives. The country still maintained a too low standard of living with a rather high level of corruption, which was also expressed in open struggle between the various clans of the north and south of the republic. To top it off, the cost of public utilities rose sharply in the country by 2010.

All these factors gave rise to the second revolution in the country in five years. In March, a congress of opposition forces was held in Bishkek, at which it was decided to elect Roza Otunbayeva as the leader of the movement, who by that time already had considerable experience in government structures.

Already a month after the opposition congress, a coup took place in the country, as a result of which the opposition took power in the country into its own hands. This transition was carried out in the shortest possible time and was accompanied by inter-ethnic clashes, pogroms and mass looting.

The consequences of the revolution

However, the riots were soon stopped, and the state structure following the revolution has undergone significant changes. On June 27, 2010, the country passeda referendum on a new Constitution, according to which Kyrgyzstan became a de facto parliamentary republic.

From May 2010 to December 2011, Roza Otunbayeva served as acting president of the country, but not according to the results of the popular elections, but according to the decree of the Provisional Government.

However, in accordance with the agreements, she left this post at the appointed time and direct elections were held in the country, in which President Atambayev, whose term of office expires in December 2017, became the new head of state.

On October 15, 2017, another presidential election was held in the country, in which eleven candidates participated. According to the voting results, Sooronbai Jeenbekov became the new president of Kyrgyzstan.