Tuesday, April 11, 2006
The Saga Continues...
Elections were held yesterday in the district where Ryspek (surely you remember Ryspek, right? The accused murderer/gang leader running for the seat in Parliament left vacant following his brother's murder last fall? You remember him. Of course you do.). Things turned out exactly as everyone assumed they would turn out: He killed his competition. Figuratively, I mean. He took a sizable chunk of the vote, not a sizable chunk of his opponent's flesh. One must be careful with language when discussing dirty politicians.
Though he won, the controversy is far from over. Not that anyone thought it would be. According to the AP, Edil Baisalov, leader of For Democracy and Civil Society, a Kyrgyz civil society coalition (and organizers of a wonderfully peaceful and well-executed protest here in Bishkek on Saturday), is echoing what I hinted at in my post on Friday and has "accused President Bakiyev of pressuring courts to allow [Ryspek] Akmatbayev to run for parliament in breach of the law."
The fun doesn't stop there, dear readers. Oh, hell no! This comes from AKIpress (roll with the language here; they're primarily non-native English speakers at AKI):
So, you can't still be on trial for triple murder and run for Parliament? Or you can? What if the sitting president seems to think it's a good idea for you to be in Parliament, what then? Oh, now my head hurts.
Actually, at this point I'm beginning to feel toward the Kyrgyz political monster as one might toward a sibling accused (and by all accounts, sickeningly guilty) of some heinous crime. You want to protect him, make everything go away, bury both of your heads in the sand and pretend the future will be just as rosy as you thought it would be when you were nine and spent most of your time sprawled out on your back in Technicolor-green grass looking up at the clouds ("That one looked a wicked lot like Oil Can Boyd's right hand! Did you see that?") thinking the biggest of the big nine-year-old thoughts, all of which always came out to the same two conclusions, though you obviously favored the one that went When I'm an adult, I'm gonna be wicked awesome. But at the same time, you can't help but want to punch him in the face for a few hours while screaming, "How could you be so awful...how could you be so awful?" to the same rhythm as your fists. (Somebody please cue the "Why are you so fat? Why are you so fat?" scene in One Crazy Summer. It's Bobcat at his best, kids. Well, no, this is Bobcat at his best. But Egg Stork still gets a special place in my heart.)
It's a love/hate thing is what I'm saying. I want them to get their act together and I want this whole thing to work out--the fledgling democracy, the national identity, the foundations for a lasting economy, et cetera, et cetera, on and on. But I also want to march into Parliament and scream until that one vein in my neck goes from scary-throbbing to out and out explosion. Of course, neither my Kyrgyz nor my Russian is up to the task. So I'll just go to bed and read a book until I fall asleep in hopes that tomorrow will be better. Which, for the record, was the only other conclusion my nine year old, cloud-gazing thoughts ever came out to. And that ain't half bad, either.
File under: Kyrgyzstan, Central Asia, Politics, Elections, Bobcat Goldthwait
Though he won, the controversy is far from over. Not that anyone thought it would be. According to the AP, Edil Baisalov, leader of For Democracy and Civil Society, a Kyrgyz civil society coalition (and organizers of a wonderfully peaceful and well-executed protest here in Bishkek on Saturday), is echoing what I hinted at in my post on Friday and has "accused President Bakiyev of pressuring courts to allow [Ryspek] Akmatbayev to run for parliament in breach of the law."
The fun doesn't stop there, dear readers. Oh, hell no! This comes from AKIpress (roll with the language here; they're primarily non-native English speakers at AKI):
Chairman of the Central Election Commission Tuigunaly Abdraimov at the press conference in Bishkek on April 10 said that he plans to apply to the Kyrgyz parliament with request to clarify two articles of the Elections Code that contradict each other.
The contradictory situation is related to registration of Ryspek Akmatabaev as a candidate for membership in the Kyrgyz parliament who gained 79.22% of votes as a result of elections on April 9 in Balykchy constituency . The Bishkek City Court suspended the court investigation of the criminal case brought against Ryspek Akmatbaev. He was accused of organizing a gang, committing triple murder, possessing weapon, etc. Ryspek Akmatbaev was declared not guilty in January 2006 by Pervomay District Court of Bishkek. However, family members of Ministry of Internal Affairs Colonel Chynybek Aliev murdered in May of 2004 appealed to Bishkek City Court.
Mr. Abdraimov reported today that the Article 28 of the Elections Code on candidate's status stipulates: "Registered candidate is not subject to criminal proceedings, detention or administrative nonpunitive measures imposed by court. Institution of a criminal case will not be the grounds for not allowing a candidate to realize the right to be elected."
According to Mr. Abdraimov, this article contradicts to paragraph 4 of the Article 56 on grounds for cancellation of registration that runs: “in case when the court initiates criminal proceedings with regard to the candidate that gained the majority of votes and has not announced the respective verdict, the Election Commission suspends determination of voting results and registration of elected candidate”.
So, you can't still be on trial for triple murder and run for Parliament? Or you can? What if the sitting president seems to think it's a good idea for you to be in Parliament, what then? Oh, now my head hurts.
Actually, at this point I'm beginning to feel toward the Kyrgyz political monster as one might toward a sibling accused (and by all accounts, sickeningly guilty) of some heinous crime. You want to protect him, make everything go away, bury both of your heads in the sand and pretend the future will be just as rosy as you thought it would be when you were nine and spent most of your time sprawled out on your back in Technicolor-green grass looking up at the clouds ("That one looked a wicked lot like Oil Can Boyd's right hand! Did you see that?") thinking the biggest of the big nine-year-old thoughts, all of which always came out to the same two conclusions, though you obviously favored the one that went When I'm an adult, I'm gonna be wicked awesome. But at the same time, you can't help but want to punch him in the face for a few hours while screaming, "How could you be so awful...how could you be so awful?" to the same rhythm as your fists. (Somebody please cue the "Why are you so fat? Why are you so fat?" scene in One Crazy Summer. It's Bobcat at his best, kids. Well, no, this is Bobcat at his best. But Egg Stork still gets a special place in my heart.)
It's a love/hate thing is what I'm saying. I want them to get their act together and I want this whole thing to work out--the fledgling democracy, the national identity, the foundations for a lasting economy, et cetera, et cetera, on and on. But I also want to march into Parliament and scream until that one vein in my neck goes from scary-throbbing to out and out explosion. Of course, neither my Kyrgyz nor my Russian is up to the task. So I'll just go to bed and read a book until I fall asleep in hopes that tomorrow will be better. Which, for the record, was the only other conclusion my nine year old, cloud-gazing thoughts ever came out to. And that ain't half bad, either.
File under: Kyrgyzstan, Central Asia, Politics, Elections, Bobcat Goldthwait
