Baktybek Abdrisaev and Alexey Semyonov: Back on Track in Bishkek
[ Mr. Abdrisaev, distinguished visiting professor of history and political science at Utah Valley University, was Kyrgyzstan's ambassador to the United States and Canada from 1997 to 2005. Mr. Semyonov is vice president of the Andrei Sakharov Foundation.]
Kyrgyzstan's citizens once again demonstrated their democratic resolve Sunday when they came out in force to ratify a new constitution. The event was significant in its timing, given that the nation has just suffered through almost a week of ethnic clashes in which up to 2,000 people were killed and thousands fled their homes. Just as importantly, it is a sign that the new government in Bishkek will derive its political legitimacy directly from the people, without influence from an outside power.
That's the best possible outcome for Kyrgyzstan, the only Central Asian nation that is shaking off decades of autocratic rule. When former strongman Kurmanbek Bakiyev was ousted by street protests in April, the new government, led by Roza Otunbayeva, was left without a real democratic mandate. Although Ms. Otunbayeva moved quickly to push through a constitutional referendum, those plans were waylaid by this month's ethnic clashes....
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Kyrgyzstan's citizens once again demonstrated their democratic resolve Sunday when they came out in force to ratify a new constitution. The event was significant in its timing, given that the nation has just suffered through almost a week of ethnic clashes in which up to 2,000 people were killed and thousands fled their homes. Just as importantly, it is a sign that the new government in Bishkek will derive its political legitimacy directly from the people, without influence from an outside power.
That's the best possible outcome for Kyrgyzstan, the only Central Asian nation that is shaking off decades of autocratic rule. When former strongman Kurmanbek Bakiyev was ousted by street protests in April, the new government, led by Roza Otunbayeva, was left without a real democratic mandate. Although Ms. Otunbayeva moved quickly to push through a constitutional referendum, those plans were waylaid by this month's ethnic clashes....