New Kyrgyzstan Constitution Endorses Democratic Reforms

"Easing Crisis, Kyrgyzstan Adopts New Constitution"
By Olga Dzyubenko
Wednesday, November 8, 2006
The Washington Post

The Central Asian country of Kyrgyzstan passed a new constitution Wednesday that limits the authority of the president by providing “strong parliamentary checks and balances on the powers of the president.”  This comes after escalating tensions in the country between protesters, the opposition party, and President Kurmanbek Bakiyev.

The constitution was adopted by parliament amidst a potential political crisis as hundreds of protesters had camped out in the country’s capital in opposition to President Kurmanbek Bakiyev.  Both protesters and opposition leaders charged the president “of going back on promises to introduce democratic reforms when he was elected last year” after his predecessor, President Askar Akayev, resigned due to pressures from the Tulip Revolution.  

Although a 2003 referendum had strengthened the president’s powers, the new constitution will remove “the president’s right to dissolve parliament and appoint the prime minister, who will instead be nominated by the party winning most votes in elections.”  The constitution is expected to be signed into law immediately by the President, who has served tenuously for 16-months. 
 
Observers believe that the new constitution will help stabilize the country and acknowledge that although it “cannot solve all of our problems…it gives us the conditions to solve them. This is the beginning.”  After the constitution is signed, Kyrgyzstan will become the only post-Soviet republic to have a strong system of checks and balances on the authority of the president.