A relative lull came on Tuesday after days of drastic changes that saw a
swift regime change and a devastating riot in the streets of Kyrgyzstan's
capital Bishkek.
Against an azure sky with little clouds, the snow-crowned mountains to the
south of the capital lie idly under the warmth of the sun. Life seems to have
returned to normal days with more shops opening, and more people going out and
traffic growing heavier. As more money-changing kiosks opens for business, one
dollar can now be changed into 40, instead of 35, Kyrgyz soms.
Broken glasses and dirty paper boards, legacy of a wild rampage in March 24
and 25 that caused numerous commercial sites pillaged and torched, have been
cleaned up.
Gaping wounds on the shopping windows along the streets, however, still
reminds people of what have just happened.
The tents pitched by opposition supporters on a grassy field near the White
House, the main government building, have been removed, leaving a trace of
crushed grass and some empty mineral water bottles.
Makeshift stages have been disassembled on the adjacent central square, where
thousands of demonstrators and by-standers watched opposition leaders delivering
lambasting speeches against the now exiled President Askar Akayev's government.
In the politics arena, a bitter strife between two conflicting parliaments
subsided when the upper house of Kyrgyzstan's previous parliament agreed on
Tuesday to cede power to its new replacement. The lower chamber gave up its
power on Monday.
Prime Minister Kurmanbek Bakiyev, appointed by the new parliament Monday, has
yet to announce its new cabinet, though some acting ministers had been named by
him when he was made acting president and prime minister by the outgoing
parliament shortly after the ouster of Akayev on March 24.
Both Bakiyev and the newly elected Parliament Speaker Omurbek Tekebayev have
called for the resignation of Akayev, saying only in this way can Kyrgyzstan
avoid anti-constitutional pitfalls and realize a smooth regime change.
Bakiyev has offered to guarantee the safety of the now ousted president by
saying that a law granting the ousted president immunity remains still in force.
Akayev, who himself said to be in suburb Moscow, suggested for the first time
that he may resign if security is guaranteed.
"If security is guaranteed to me, I am willing to start dialogue (with the
new parliament) so that life in Kyrgyzstan can return to the constitutional path
and so that the problem of electing a new president can be resolved in the legal
and constitutional framework," Akayev said Tuesday in an interview to be
published by Rossiiskaya Gazeta on Wednesday.