European Engagement Under Review: Exporting Values, Rules, and Practices to the Post-Soviet Space by Vera Axyonova

Author:Vera Axyonova [Axyonova, Vera]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9783838208909
Google: Ga40jwEACAAJ
Goodreads: 27766687
Publisher: Ibidem Press
Published: 2016-04-26T00:00:00+00:00

Mixed results: Democracy, the Kyrgyz way

It is difficult to measure the impact of EU assistance to democratic reforms in Kyrgyzstan based on the quantities of support. Certainly the EU, along with other democratically orientated international donors, contributed to the development of a "democracy infused" discourse among the local political elites. In an attempt to fit into the donors' expectations and meet the requirements of international socialisation processes, state officials, as well as politicians, have mastered the art of mimicking: "We (the Kyrgyz) are quickly adaptable. Our people know how to shape proposals and rhetoric to get funding" (Interview with Dr. Elmira Nogoibaeva, August 2012, Bishkek). At some point, this discourse should turn into action. But in the case of the Kyrgyz Republic, the discourse of democratic freedoms, human rights and citizen engagement has been distorted by a variety of reality factors and resulted in a hybrid regime termed "street democracy" (Artemyev, 2006)

Two violent changes of power in 2005 and 2010 gave Kyrgyzstan an ambiguous reputation as an unstable democracy where changes occur only under the extreme pressure of public protest. The public protest practices have not disappeared with the most recent violent change of power in 2010.

On October 3rd, 2012, a group of protesters headed by several members of parliament undertook a failed attempt to take over the House of Government. The protest action initially started with the demand to reconsider the agreement between the Kyrgyz Government and Kumtor Operating Company, the leading gold mining company in the country. The anti-gold mining protest quickly turned violent, and protesters attempted to climb the fence of the Government House (RFE/RL Kyrgyz Service, 2012). One of the protest leaders, MP Kamchibek Tashiev was video-recorded encouraging his fellow protestors:

Why should we bring 10,000 people here to gain power? Why should we bring 20,000 people here to gain power? We don't have to. If necessary, we can go now and take the power! We must take it! We must take it! We must! (RFE/RL, 2012).

The rally was dispersed by the police, organisers were detained, and the key leader Tashiev was tried and convicted to a year and five months in prison (Begalieva, 2014). But an important value of this rather short and awkward incident is that it illustrates what is called "street democracy". Street democracy is not an academic term in Kyrgyzstan; it is rather a handy way for local people to explain the chaotic freedom in this small country. Street democracy is often used by locals with reference to protest actions outside the House of Government, also known as the White House, in Bishkek, and other important administrative buildings both in the capital of Kyrgyzstan and in provinces. Another feature of this incident is that it reinforces what I call a "White House Fence Phenomenon". Both in 2005 and 2010, as well as on other, less successful attempts to overthrow the government, the White House was the ultimate destination for protestors, who sometimes would walk miles from provinces to reach the physical location of the President and his administration in Bishkek.

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