Democracy On The March: A Step Sideways

Kyrgyzstani Elections Said Dishonest By International Observers, OK By Russians
Washington Post reports on the first round of Kyrgyzstan’s (henceforth “K”) parliamentary elections. At stake: Control of the legislature, which K’s president hopes to dominate by winning 51 of 75 seats, thereby allowing him to rewrite the constitution and thereby continue in office for a third term.

• The process: Two rounds of voting, in which the top two vote getters in the first round will proceed to a second round (unless some candidate receives more than 50% in the first round).
• The background: Successful more-or-less peaceful transitions of power from ex-Soviet apparatchiks to relatively democratic leaders in Georgia and Ukraine. No Central Asian state has yet seen a peaceful post-Soviet political transition.
• And the Great Power angle: K borders China (more specifically, China’s troublesome Xinjiang province), and hosts both Russian and American military facilities.

In the run-up to elections, stories circulated about the Bishkek government’s suppression of opposition media sources. U.S.-government funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported on the crackdown targeting Internet sites and independent newspapers. As Associated Press noted, Radio Liberty itself was targeted in Kyrgyzstan, as the government “accidentally” revoked the station’s permission to use FM airwaves. And a U.S. State Department-sponsored printing press run by Freedom House (the only independent press in the country) was forced to run from electricity provided by diesel generators from the American Embassy after the government cut off power.
Sunday’s election appears to have been reminiscent of the Ukrainian situation in other ways. Here’s what the Post reported about Western observers’ conclusions:

“The overall process was a disappointment,” Peter Eicher, head of the election observation mission, said in Tajikistan Monday. “We had great hopes for the election because of improvements in the legal framework and the participation of six parties and many candidates. Regrettably, however, there was too much official control over the political campaign, too many government officials directing election commissions and a pattern of government interference with the independent press.
“Although a great many election officials worked hard and did their jobs well,” he added, “election day procedures in a disturbingly high number of areas were not conducted honestly.”

And here’s what the Russian-led team said:

“CIS election observers believe the parliamentary elections in Tajikistan complied with national election laws and have declared the elections legal, free and transparent,” Vladimir Rushailo, executive secretary of the CIS and a former Russian interior minister under President Vladimir Putin, said at a news conference in the capital, Dushanbe. CIS observers in Bishkek made a similar statement.