KYRGYZ LEADERS AND OPPOSITION MEET AT "CIVIL CONSENT" ROUND-TABLE

The most important event of June 2000 in
Kyrgyz was the long-waited round-table meeting of representatives from the government,
political parties and NGOs held on June 8-12. The main goal of the meeting called
"Civil Consent –Basis of Stable Development in Kyrgyzstan," that included
the participation of President Askar Akaev and Prime Minister Muraliev, was to bring
together state authorities and opposition members in an open discussion. Over 200 speeches
concerning the mass media, the role of political parties and NGOs in the political system,
human rights, and priorities of democratic development were delivered. The participants
discussed the past parliamentary elections that many considered to have not lived up to
democratic principles.

Several important opposition parties and NGOs declined to take part in the meeting
because of changes made to the meeting’s format. These included the Party of the
Democratic Movement of Kyrgyzstan, "Ar-Namys" Party, the Communist Party, and
the NGO Coalition known as "For Democracy and Civil Society", among others.
Regardless, Kyrgyzstani officials declared that the round-table meeting was a success. The
original plan was to hold the meeting in the 9+9+9 format. But the presidential press
secretary proposed another format that allowed participation of 25 representatives from
the government, 25 from political parties, and 25 from NGOs in order not to block
participation by other political parties and NGOs by holding the meeting in a small
format.

Many opposition leaders believe the larger format allowed the government to avoid
extended discussion with the brightest opposition leaders. Those groups that turned down
invitations to participate in the meeting felt that such a huge meeting involving 75
representatives would be too large for a meaningful open dialogue to take place. Most felt
that no constructive decisions would be made at this meeting. The assistant of the
Internal Politics Administration Department stated that the "opposition is not ready
for this type of a meeting because it does not know ins and outs of political culture and
does not have ability to solve problems constructively."

Opposition representatives believe that the meeting involved mostly like-minded,
pro-governmental representatives. The Kyrgyz Republic State Secretary disagreed stating:
"Anyone who wanted to be heard was able to participate. Those opposition
representatives who rejected the invitation to come to the round-table discussion will
have a chance to speak during the next meeting that will be held as part of the process of
social-political monitoring on August, 2000." The President Askar Akaev closed the
meeting promising that face-to-face meetings would be held regularly in the future. As the
guarantor of the Constitution, Akaev promised to hold democratic, alternative presidential
elections on October 2000 and to take measures in order to strengthen democracy in
Kyrgyzstan.

Nurgiza Toktogulova, student of International Relations Department, American
University in Kyrgyzstan.