Lawmakers were expected to vote on a bill that would reverse constitutional changes limiting some of the powers of the president. Those changes were adopted by President Kurmanbek Bakiev under popular pressure after a wave of street protests.
The leader of the Kyrgyz nongovernmental organization Interbilim, Asiya Sasykbaeva in an interview with RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service criticized the move. "They shouldn't make changes [to the Kyrgyz Constitution]," she said. "That would restore the authoritarian regime. If it does happen, why did we even adopt a new constitution, why did we carry out the March 24 [2005] revolution?"
Earlier this week, Kyrgyzstan's government resigned in a bid to help accelerate reforms and implement the newly adopted constitution in full.
Copyright (c) 2006. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org
Posted December 22nd, 2006 by Dinka
