Kyrgyzstan: Post-election assessment

Kyrgyzstan is the only country in an otherwise authoritarian Central Asia trying to make the transition to a parliamentary democracy. The people there voted overwhelmingly for Almazbek Atambayev, who until then had been the country’s prime minister. Last year Kyrgyz and ethnic Uzbek groups clashed violently. Bektour Iskender, chief editor of the news and blog portal, Kloops.kg, spoke with DW-AKADEMIE about media development in this crisis-ridden country.

The presidential elections were an important test for Kyrgyzstan's new democracy. How were the elections perceived within the country?

Bektour Iskender: There are mixed feelings about the elections. On the one hand, these were the most peaceful elections we’ve had, with the least number of violations. On the other hand, election monitors did find irregularities in the count. So it’s still too early to say that we’ve learned how to conduct transparent and fair elections. But the results seem to reflect people’s preferences. Almazbek Atambayev won 63% of the vote. This realistically indicates his popularity given the 60% turnout.
Still, one should note that many who voted for him, especially those in the North, were voting against his main rivals who are known for their nationalistic statements.

Were you able to cover the election freely?

Yes. These were the first presidential elections that the press could cover freely. I don’t know of cases where there were constraints. Atambayev definitely received the most media coverage. The president of the journalists’ association, Marat Tokoyev, says that’s because Atambayev bought more newspaper space and TV airtime. Still, that’s nothing compared to the one-sided coverage of Bakiyev prior to the 2009 elections. This time some of the media openly supported Atambayev’s main rivals Kamchibek Tashiyev and Adahan Madumarov, and I don’t know that they had any trouble.

Atambayev has already announced a pro-Russian course for his administration. He has talked about closing the U.S. air base at Manas and talks are already underway on joining a customs union with Russia. Is Russia gaining the political upper hand here?

Russia has been trying to increase its influence – and secure exclusive influence – in the region for years. I think the U.S. is trying to do the same.

Have working conditions for journalists improved over the last year?

Yes, definitely. These days, for example, if we ask for interviews with staff from the GKNB (State Commission on National Security), we get the interviews. It didn’t used to be like that. The statements, of course, are still the same and deny any accusations of torture. But the government has started to treat the media differently. For us it’s extremely important that we can now cover alleged cases of torture by the GKNB or police without fearing consequences. If the situation for the media continues like this I’ll start referring to last year’s revolt as a revolution.

Are ethnic tensions openly discussed in the media?

They tend to be ignored unfortunately, but the media can report on them. We cover the topic regularly at Kloop. We did a series, for example, on a campaign to replace all Uzbek street names in the city of Osh with Kyrgyz names. We also ran a story on nationalistic articles appearing in some of the country’s newspapers.

What are your expectations for press freedom under the new president?

I’m an optimist. I just hope that the authorities won’t resort to censorship measures or try to control the press. Having a free media is one of Kyrgyzstan’s greatest achievements.


DW-AKADEMIE organizes workshops for journalists and media workers in Kyrgyzstan and other Central Asian countries. Conflict-sensitive reporting is one of the main focuses. This year four workshops were held in April and August. They brought together journalists, people involved in politics, and those involved in civil society in order to encourage discussions on sensitive political topics. This summer the second, ten-week Summer Academy for journalists from throughout the region taught participants from Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan the basics of multimedia journalism.