THE FAMILY IN POWER: A NEW PAST FOR AN OLD COUNTRY
Abstract
The Bakiev family, which remained in power in Kyrgyzstan for five years, relied on formal and informal methods to rule the country and never hesitated to violate the division of power principle. To tighten their grip on power, its members held forth about their noble ancestry and distorted the past to secure the future. The Tulip Revolution, officially recognized as a popular revolution and a protest against the corrupt authoritarian regime, was described as a turning point in the country’s history.1 The myth placed Bakiev and his family in the center of events: monuments, new street names, books and articles, scholarly conferences, films, theatrical productions, etc. were created to plant the myth in the people’s minds.
A draft law on amnesty for the people actively involved in the events of March 2005 and guilty of premeditated crimes (with the exception of felonies)2 was one of President Bakiev’s last efforts to commemorate the Tulip Revolution. The law was not enacted; in 2010, two weeks of pompous jubilee celebrations were followed by the April revolution which removed President Bakiev from power. Here I have analyzed the public speeches, interviews, commentaries, and publications of members of the Bakiev family and their ideologists which appeared in 2005-2010 to answer the following questions: What role did revision of the past play in family governance? What were Bakiev’s real goals before and after the revolution? What sort of information was expected to comprise the chronicles of the family’s glorious history compiled by the Bakievs and their ideologists? What position did Bakiev hold as president and how did he interpret the March 2005 events ?
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References
See: K. Isaev, The Year 2005. The Beginning of Ren-aissance of Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek, 2005 (in Kyrgyz); T. Ken-ensariev, “A Democracy Experience in Kyrgyzstan: Histo-ry, Realities, Prospects,” in: An Experience of Democratic Reforms in the Eurasian Expanse: Comparative Models and Practical Mechanisms, ed. by A.M. Baymenov, B.K. Sultanov,Almaty, 2006 (in Kazakh).
See: “Prezident nameren obyavit amnistiyu k 5-leti-yu martovskoy revolutsii,” AKIpress, 23 March, 2010.
O. Zhuk, “8 epizodov iz zhizni Akhmata Bakieva,” Delo No., 3 December, 2010.
According to Art 52 of the Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic, “If the President is unable to exercise his powers for reasons stated in this Constitution, the Toraga (Speaker) of the Jogorku Kenesh (Parliament) thereafter shall exercise his powers until the election of a new President. If the Toraga is unable to exercise the powers of the President, the Prime Minister shall carry out his duties then henceforward until the election of the new President of the Kyrgyz Republic.” The planned changes would have passed on this right to Maxim Bakiev. It was mainly the opposition media and politicians who talked about the political decisions being made during Kurmanbek Bakiev’s rule aimed at facilitating the power transfer to his son.
A. Bakachiev, “Human Rights are the Highest Value. Interview by A. Makeshov with Public Prosecutor of the Alamedin District,” Erkin Too, No. 88 (1802), 21 November, 2008, p. 9.
See: Zh. Sariev, Duty to the Fatherland. The Roads to Follow… President Kurmanbek Bakiev. Documentary Nar-ration, Bishkek, 2009 (in Kyrgyz).
See: S.N. Zholdoshev, S.I. Tokoev, The Descendants of Teyitkhan, Bishkek, 2010 (in Kyrgyz).
See: The Suzak District: Time and People, ed. by S. Stambekov, A. Akzholov, M. Ashirbaeva, Bishkek, 2009 (in Kyrgyz).
See, for example: S.N. Zholdoshev, S.I. Tokoev, op. cit.; Zh. Sariev, op. cit.
Zh. Sariev, op. cit., p. 22.
See: Ibid., p. 23.
Sometimes the media used the term as the Kyrgyz variant of the word “president.”
º. T»l»bekov, Life Dedicated to the Revolution, or the Bakiev Brothers. A Story Based on Documents, Bishkek,2007, p. 17 (in Kyrgyz).
For example, streets were named in honor of Abdyvasit Bakiev (the president’s uncle) and Saly Bakiev (the pres-ident’s father); a stipend in honor of Gulnara Bakieva (the president’s niece) was established for scientific achievements.
See: M. Shadi uulu, “President Bakiev of Nookat,” Aalam, 23 April, 2009, p. 8.
See: E. Florescano, “Od historiipomnika w³adzy, do historii wyjaniaj¹cej,” in: Po co nam historia? przek³ad Mróz M. wstêp £epkowski T., Warszawa, 1985, pp. 71-72, 78.
See: M. Zió³kowski, Przemiany interesów i wartoci spo³eczeñstwa polskiego, Poznañ, 2000, pp. 92, 105.
See: º. T»l»bekov, op. cit., pp. 8, 12.
See: Vyshla v svet kniga “24 marta 2005 g.—Narodnaya revolutsia,” Kabar, 22 March, 2006.
A. Tagaev, “Narodnaya revolutsia vernula doverie i nadezhdu naroda,” AKIpress-Ferghana, 24 March, 2010.
See: K. Bakiev, Martovskaia revolutsia: istoricheskiy vybor naroda, Bishkek, 2010.
K. Bakiev, “O natsionalnoy strategii razvitia i blizhayshikh zadachakh. Poslanie Prezidenta KR K. Bakieva nar-odu Kyrgyzstana,” MCN, 29 September, 2006.
This meant that they were hard-working and honest people with a modest lifestyle who relied exclusively on their
official earnings (see: “K. Bakiev. He was a Public Figure Totally Dedicated to the People. Interview by º. T»l»bekov,”in: º. T»l»bekov, op. cit., p. 6).
See: K. Bakiev, “Vozvrata k prezhnim poriadkam ne budet,” Obshchestvenny Rating, 29 December, 2005; verba-tim report of President of the KR K. Bakiev’s answers in Russian during live broadcast by GTRK on 20 December, 2006,available at [http://www.president.kg/press/vistup/1844/], 25 July, 2009.
K. Bakiev, Martovskaia revolutsia: istoricheskiy vybor naroda, p. 63.
Ibid., p. 61.
Ibid., p. 62.
“K. Bakiev. Proritetov ne menyau,” Interview by D. Evlashkov and P. Negoitsa, Rossiiskaia gazeta, 27 January, 2006; federal issue No. 3982.
K. Bakiev, “Vozvrata k prezhnim poriadkam ne budet.”
See: B. Szacka, Czas przesz³ypamiêæmit, Warsaw, 2006, pp. 54-58; B. Anderson, Imagined Communities, Lon-don, New York, 2002, pp. 155-162.
M. Zalikahnov, “Predislovie,” in: K. Bakiev, Martovskaia revolutsia: istoricheskiy vybor naroda, p. 8.
See: A. Portinov, Wielka Wojna Ojczyniana w polityce pamiêci Bia³orusi, Mo³dawii i Ukrainy, Respublica nowa jesieñ, No. 7, 2009, p. 26.
See: H. Arendt, On Revolution, London, 1990, p. 34; P. Sztompka, Socjologia, Kraków, 2002, pp. 28, 39; E. Maty-nia, Performative Democracy, Boulder, London, 2009, pp. 6-10.
See: H. Arendt, op. cit.; P. Sztompka, op. cit., pp. 30-31.
The new government used the legitimating elements of Akaev’s regime. This is clearly illustrated by what Minis-ter of Economic Development and Trade of the KR Akylbek Zhaparov said in 2009. In his interview with Kyrgyz tuusu, he reproduced Bakiev’s position by saying that the new leaders should learn the political lessons of the people’s revolution:
The revolution has taught us what democracy is; it clarified the ideas and positions of the Kyrgyz people. Under our Con-stitution, the people are the source of power, while the president (Akaev.—N.Sh.) forgot this; he scorned the people and ignored their needs. If the president does not think about the people, they will up and drive him out of Kyrgyzstan, regardless of his power. To sum up—this is a lesson.” The idea of the sovereign people survived until the April revolution of 2010 when a wave of popular protests removed President Bakiev from his post (see: A. Zhaparov, “We Received a Bankrupt State,”Kyrgyz tuusu, No. 21, 23 March, 2009, p. 9; T. Kenensariev, “Osnovnye istorichekie etapy razvitia suverennogo Kyrgyzs-tana,” p. 9, available at [http://arch.kyrlibnet.kg/uploads/30.Kenencariev%20T..pdf]).
H. Arendt, op. cit.; P. Sztompka, op. cit., pp. 69-113.
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