WELCOME TO IWPR'S REPORTING CENTRAL ASIA, No. 661, October 31, 2011 NEW KYRGYZ LEADER TO REACH OUT TO OPPONENTS After landslide victory, Almazbek Atambaev may need to talk to two main rivals who have cried foul in election. By Timur Toktonaliev
TAJIKS BORROW BRIDE-THEFT FROM NEIGHBOURS In remote northeastern district, Tajik men have taken to specifically Kyrgyz custom of “stealing” brides. By Fayzia Ahmadova **** NEW ************************************************************************************ LATEST PROJECT REVIEWS: http://iwpr.net/make-an-impact/project-reviews VACANCIES: http://iwpr.net/what-we-do/vacancies **** IWPR RESOURCES ****************************************************************** CENTRAL ASIA PROGRAMME HOME: http://www.iwpr.net/programme/central-asia CENTRAL ASIA RADIO: http://iwpr.net/programme/central-asia/central-asia-radio NEWS BRIEFING CENTRAL ASIA: http://iwpr.net/programme/news-briefing-central-asia CENTRAL ASIA HUMAN RIGHTS: http://iwpr.net/programme/central-asia-human-rights-reporting-project STORY BEHIND THE STORY: http://iwpr.net/report-news/the-story-behind-the-story BECOME A FAN OF IWPR ON FACEBOOK http://facebook.com/InstituteforWarandPeaceReporting FOLLOW US ON TWITTER http://twitter.com/iwpr **** http://iwpr.net/ ********************************************************** DONATE TO IWPR: http://iwpr.net/donate **** http://iwpr.net/ ********************************************************** NEW KYRGYZ LEADER TO REACH OUT TO OPPONENTS After landslide victory, Almazbek Atambaev may need to talk to two main rivals who have cried foul in election. By Timur Toktonaliev The outright victory of Almazbek Atambaev in Kyrgyzstan’s presidential election has avoided a widely-expected second round of voting in which he would have faced a strong challenge from the second- and third-placed candidates. But he is likely to offer one or both of them a senior position in order to neutralise possible protests. According to results from the October 30 election which are still preliminary but with almost all ballots counted, 55-year-old Atambaev won 63 per cent of the vote, sailing past the 50-per cent mark he needed to win outright. Some way behind, his nearest rivals were former speaker of parliament Adakhan Madumarov with close to 15 per cent of the vote and Ata-Jurt party leader Kamchybek Tashiev with just over 14 per cent. Unlike Atambaev, both men hail from the south of Kyrgyzstan, a country where regional allegiances are an important factor in politics. The other 13 candidates were far behind, none getting over one per cent of the vote. Turnout was slightly more than 60 per cent of the three million eligible voters, according to the Central Election Commission, CEC. Until stepping down to stand as a candidate, Atambaev served as prime minister in the coalition government formed following an October 2010 parliamentary election. Before that, he was part of the interim administration that replaced President Kurmanbek Bakiev, who was ousted by mass protests in April 2010. Analysts say Atambaev, a wealthy businessman, owes his victory to a well-funded campaign, the high profile he enjoyed as prime minister, and a very high turnout in his stronghold in northern Kyrgyzstan. Sheradil Baktygulov, a Bishkek-based expert on public administration, said Atambaev might not be the ideal winner, but things could have been a lot worse given a field of candidates that included Kyrgyz nationalists and complete outsiders. This election is the first peaceful transfer of presidential power that Kyrgyzstan has experienced. Bakiev’s predecessor, the long-serving Askar Akaev, was forced out by similar protests in 2005. The outgoing interim president, Roza Otunbaeva, was barred from standing in this election but showed no inclination to change the rules to enable her to do so. The vote also marks the conclusion of a process of political reforms ensuing from a constitutional referendum held in late June 2010, which turned Kyrgyzstan into the first Central Asian republic where it is parliament, not the president, that holds most of the reins of power. The fact that the election went off without violence is an achievement in itself, given that southern Kyrgyzstan was rocked to the core by several days of ethnic violence in early June last year. Assuming the CEC confirms his victory, Atambaev’s most pressing concern is likely to be calming his two principal rivals, who have already said they will contest the outcome. Madumarov called for a recount, saying he had information that Atambaev got just under 50 per cent while he himself won 32 per cent of the vote – enough to trigger a second round. But he promised not to stage public protests, and instead said he would follow “the legal route” to pressing his claim. Tashiev called for the results to be annulled, warning that if this did not happen, the authorities would be “punished” by the Kyrgyz people. There were reports of around 300 protesters gathering in the southern town of Jalalabad where support for Tashiev is strong. A similar number blocked a highway that links the south and north of the country. But according to one eyewitness, a journalist who asked not to be named, police kept things well under control and the protests fizzled out in a couple of hours. “The situation has been calm in the town today. This [protest] action didn’t cause any alarm. There was no panic. All the shops are open,” the journalist said, noting that the regional government offices were under police guard but no additional forces had been drafted in. Tashiev’s spokesman distanced him from the protests, saying these were just ordinary people expressing their own views without any prompting. “He did not call on people to stage a rally or block the road. We are not going to talk to them and urge them to calm down,” Nurgazy Anarkulov told the Knews.kg news agency. In the south’s main city Osh, an even smaller protest involving around 30 people took place. Gathering in the central square, they claimed that the election was “dirty” and accused Atambaev of using the resources of the state to help secure his victory. In an apparent attempt to appease Tashiev and Madumarov, Atambaev was quick to suggest they might take up posts in government. He called the two men “real politicians” who would not want to stir up trouble by organising protests – contrasting them with other, unnamed figures who he said might have an interest in instability. “All problems need to be resolved through negotiations. From now on, there will be no revolutions in Kyrgyzstan,” Atambaev said. Baktygulov said threats to contest the election results should be seen as a manoeuvre by losing candidates hoping to extract some advantage. “I think the losing candidates’ followers had thought in advance about possible scenarios following the election,” he said. “What’s happening now is that one of these scenarios is being enacted. It signals the start of a negotiating process.” Baktygulov said that while the losers had an interest in recouping something from the election, Atambaev would gain as well by bringing powerful southern politicians on board. But he predicted that only one of the two would get an offer – perhaps the job of prime minister, or deputy prime minister. But he doubted that either candidate would try to build a protest movement on the streets if he was the one spurned. “If Tashiev is left out, he will quietly go back to his parliamentary duties, lead the [Ata-Jurt] faction and work on scoring points in parliament by criticising Atambaev,” Baktygulov said, adding that Madumarov would also be active in opposition and would be busy laying the ground for the next parliamentary election, due in 2015. Although election monitors from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe said the vote left them “cautiously optimistic about the future of democracy in Kyrgyzstan”, there were allegations of abuses. “Candidate registration was inclusive, giving voters a wide choice, and the campaign was open and respected fundamental freedoms,” the OSCE team said in a statement, noting also “significant irregularities” such as missing names on voter lists, ballot-box stuffing, multiple and family voting, vote buying, and the busing in of voters. Dinara Oshurakhunova, head of the Coalition for Democracy and Civil Society, also spoke of “serious violations” in the electoral process, and called on the CEC to investigate reports of problems like ballot-stuffing. But she too concluded that overall, voting was competitive and transparent. The CEC’s deputy head Gulnura Jurabaeva accepted that some irregularities took place but said they were being investigated. “We acknowledge that violations did take place at some polling stations, where there were even local election commission members who worked in support of certain candidates,” she said. Irina Karamushkina, a member of parliament from Atambaev’s Social Democratic Party, said she had checked up on claims that his campaigners had tried to bribe election monitors, and found them to be without substance – and possibly even a deliberate attempt to discredit him. If there was wrongdoing on anyone’s part, she said, it was not widespread enough to affect the overall outcome. Karamushkina said that while losing candidates had every right to lodge complaints about the voting process, they ought to remember that they too had made pledges to work for peace, stability and order in Kyrgyzstan. “This was a victory for the people, not for Atambaev,” she said. “People have really entrusted him with their country and its future. The important thing is that he now has to justify that trust. We’ll see in six years’ time.” Timur Toktonaliev is IWPR editor in Kyrgyzstan. TAJIKS BORROW BRIDE-THEFT FROM NEIGHBOURS In remote northeastern district, Tajik men have taken to specifically Kyrgyz custom of “stealing” brides. By Fayzia Ahmadova Abducting the woman you want to marry – with or without her permission – is a well-known if illegal tradition in Central Asia, but typical only among the Kyrgyz and Kazaks. Now it is taking off among Tajiks, apparently borrowed from their neighbours. In the eastern Jirgatal district of Tajikistan, bride-theft survives among the Kyrgyz who form the majority population here, despite every effort to stamp it out under Soviet rule. A local resident called Qaisiddin said Tajiks in Jirgatal has started copying the practice. “Our neighbour was abducted on her wedding day by the guy who was in love with her. No one knows where he took her. But everyone knows that wherever they are be hiding, they will come out soon,” he said. When he was young, he said, he often heard stories about such abductions – but only among Kyrgyz neighbours. Now, he said, “The Tajiks think that if the Kyrgyz in neighbouring villages kidnap their brides, then why can’t we? That’s how it is turning into a new custom.” Kyrgyz bride-theft stems from a nomadic tradition where the young man presents his new wife’s family with a fait accompli and avoids payment of “kalym”, the marriage “price” which can often be exorbitant. In modern Kyrgyzstan, the tradition is often distorted so that a young woman is kidnapped off the street by a passing acquaintance or complete stranger, held against her will, and coerced into marriage as the least shameful option left to her. Qaisiddin insisted that among the Tajiks of Jirgatal, it was always consensual. “For us, it isn’t kidnapping, it brings two loving hearts together,” he added. IWPR interviews in Jirgatal suggest bride-theft has become a definite trend. “Tajik girls, too, are being kidnapped in our district, because we live alongside the Kyrgyz and we’ve adopted some of their traditions,” Daler Safarov, a journalist with the local Safina TV station said. The Tajik authorities do not seem to be addressing the issue as it appears that most cases, as Qaisiddin suggested, are really consensual elopements. In any case, parents are reluctant to report cases to the police – however unhappy they are about the marriage – because of the shame that publicity would bring down on the family. A Jirgatal resident who did not want to be named described how his brother abducted his childhood sweetheart, returning to the village three days before her arranged marriage and eloping with her. The couple went to a Muslim cleric who performed the religious wedding rite. He said they were forced to arrange the “abduction” because the woman’s family – who have since disowned her – disapproved of her choice. Mahmadullo Asadulloev, spokesman for the interior ministry in the capital Dushanbe, told IWPR there were no reports of abducted brides case on the police records. “If such a case does occur and the girl’s family inform the police that she was abducted against her will, it will be treated as a serious offence,” he said, adding that under Tajik law, such cases would be prosecuted as a form of kind of kidnapping. The increase in bride-thefts alarms some commentators, who say it is alien to Tajik culture and could lead to non-consensual abductions, as in Kyrgyzstan. Temur Oksanov, an analyst from Tajikistan who is Kyrgyz by background, warned that if coercive abductions became common, it would have a serious social impact, and could lead to a rise in suicides among married women – already a common response to abusive marriages. Most commentators agree the practice is unlikely to spread from Jirgatal to areas where there is no Kyrgyz influence. “If you kidnap a girl here, it isn’t as shameful an act as it would be in, for example, [neighbouring] Garm or Tajikabad,” Safarov said. “If someone abducted a bride in those districts, he’d be killed immediately.” Hikmatullo Saifullozoda, a political analyst in Dushanbe, said most people in Tajikistan would oppose the kidnapping of brides. It was only in Jirgital, where Kyrgyz and Tajiks lived alongside each other and sometimes intermarried, that two traditions could become intertwined, he said. Elsewhere in Tajikistan, the usual solution for young couples whose parents opposed their marriage was to go through the Muslim wedding rite in secret, and then tell their families. “But kidnapping a girl and then making the fact public is just not done here. In Kyrgyzstan, a girl can be ‘stolen’ on her way to work or in some public place regardless of whether she consents,” he said. “In Tajikistan, though, even if the girl does give her consent, it isn’t seen as acceptable and it will be condemned by this patriarchal society. Her father and mother – especially the father – will never take back a daughter who has shamed them.” Fayzia Ahmadova is the pseudonym of an IWPR contributor in Tajikistan. **** http://iwpr.net/ ********************************************************** REPORTING CENTRAL ASIA provides the international community with a unique insiders' perspective on the region. Using our network of local journalists, the service publishes news and analysis from across Central Asia on a weekly basis. The service forms part of IWPR's Central Asia Project based in Almaty, Bishkek, Tashkent and London, which supports media development and encourages better local and international understanding of the region. 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