OSCE says Akayev should resign; warns new leaders against infighting
AP Worldstream
Mar 31, 2005
STEVE GUTTERMAN
The head of a key European security organization called on ousted
Kyrgyz President Askar Akayev to resign and urged the Central Asian
nation’s new leadership on Thursday to avoid dangerous infighting
before a new election.
The current chief of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe said Akayev should cooperate with efforts to secure his
resignation and that the “cooperation should be effective and as short
as possible,” in order to ease persistent uncertainty in Kyrgyzstan.
In the third visit by a high-level OSCE official to Kyrgyzstan since
the upheaval that led Akayev to flee to Russia, current chairman
Dimitrij Rupel said the 55-nation organization backs the new
parliament’s effort to hold talks to win Akayev’s resignation.
“The OSCE supports negotiations; excluding President Akayev from this
volatile period would be dangerous,” he said. But he stressed that the
OSCE recognizes the new leadership as legitimate and legal.
Akayev fled to Russia after opposition protesters stormed his
headquarters a week ago and took power in the ex-Soviet republic. He
has said is prepared to resign if he receives guarantees of security
and immunity from prosecution.
He urged the new Kyrgyz leaders to work together and avoid infighting
that could lead to new unrest as competition begins before a June 26
presidential election.
“I have urged against _ and this is perhaps the most serious challenge
_ against taking the elections to the street,” Rupel said. “I would
say that competition in the group is worrying; something that should
concern us all,” he said.
Rupel cut short a visit to Armenia to come to Kyrgyzstan to meet with
acting President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, Foreign Minister Roza Otunbayeva,
parliament speaker Omurbek Tekebayev and Felix Kulov, who resigned as
law enforcement coordinator Wednesday.
Kulov’s resignation was interpreted by some as sign he could be
planning a presidential bid against Bakiyev, who has announced plans
to run. Bakiyev said Wednesday that it would be dangerous for Akayev
to return in the near future; Kulov indicated he should come back to
resign.
Rupel said the legal status of Kulov, who was imprisoned under Akayev
and released a week ago during the power seizure, should be cleared up
in time for him to run in the election if he chooses. He said Kulov
gave him the impression in their meeting that he would run.
Rupel, who is Slovenia’s foreign minister, said that until recently
the new Kyrgyz leaders been united largely by their criticism of
Akayev’s regime.
Now, he said, their differences should be “recognized and channeled”
toward a good elections process and should not lead to “exclusion.”
He also expressed concern about disorder on the nation’s borders,
although he did not go into details, and about persistent power
struggles in provinces outside the capital, where he said he was told
that in some cases two or more people were claiming regional and local
leadership.
The OSCE has struggled to keep up with the fast-moving situation in
Kyrgyzstan. One top envoy arrived before Akayev’s ouster to seek a
settlement between the government and opposition and a second came
last week during a conflict between two parliaments over legitimacy.