Kyrgyzstan: Southern Mayor a Tough Survivor
Seen by some as a Kyrgyz hero, Melis Myrzakmatov has fixed the roads in Osh but has not won over the large Uzbek minority.
Kyrgyzstan: Southern Mayor a Tough Survivor
Seen by some as a Kyrgyz hero, Melis Myrzakmatov has fixed the roads in Osh but has not won over the large Uzbek minority.
Protesters in the southern Kyrgyz city of Osh earlier this month expressed strong support for their mayor, a strong and controversial politician whom they suspect the government wants to oust.
Mayor Melis Myrzakmatov’s refusal to bow to central authority has made him a troublesome figure for central government. His Kyrgyz nationalist views make him a divisive figure in a city that witnessed horrific ethnic clashes in June 2010.
Myrzakmatov has been mayor of Osh since 2009, surviving the April 2010 ousting of president Kurmanbek Bakiev – the man who appointed him – and the bloodshed between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks later that year that left more than 400 people dead in the south of the country.
Now the Kyrgyz parliament is nearing the end of discussions on legislation that would grant more authority to the two biggest cities – the capital Bishkek and Osh. Myrzakmatov’s current term expired at the end of January, and he will face re-election only after the legislation is passed.
Mayors of the two cities will end up with much greater power than before, and a bigger budget. Instead of the president, it will be the prime minister who selects the mayor, after consulting city councillors.
Myrzakmatov enjoys the backing of the local Uluttar Birimdigi party, which won 21 out of the 45 seats on Osh city council in last year’s local elections. But in the city, his supporters clearly suspect that central government is going to use the legislative change to engineer his departure.
Inga Sikorskaya, an IWPR editor in Bishkek, has just returned from a trip to Osh, and set out the various factors at play on the local political scene.
IWPR: Could Bishkek succeed in replacing Myrzakmatov?
Inga Sikorskaya: They could replace him, but they are unlikely go for that option right now, even though he has many opponents who would really like to see that happen.
Even in an open election, he would have a real chance of winning. We should recall that they failed to get rid of him in 2010 even though everyone saying it was going to happen… various compromising materials about him were placed in the media.
The question is whether the authorities have the political will and the resources to take him on at the moment. It’s always better to negotiate since everyone’s interests can be taken into account. Over the last two years, they have managed to find common ground [with Myrzakmatov]. So a mechanism for consensus-building does exist. At the moment, maintaining stability is of paramount importance for the government.
IWPR: Why is this law important?
Sikorskaya: One of the key new elements in the bill is the way the mayor is elected. The prime minister will now nominate a mayoral candidate after consulting the factions in the Osh municipal council. Previously, it was the president.
Myrzakmatov’s supporters believe that neither president nor prime minister should get to decide, and that instead it should either be the parties represented on Osh council, or the city residents themselves.
The bill envisages expanding the mayor’s powers, giving him the authority to appoint and sack the heads of the government departments in the city. In addition, Osh will get greater economic independence, more funding from the state budget, and a significant expansion in territory. All this will enhance its status and reputation, and boost its development.
In practice, though, central government may well fear that its own power and influence will diminish if the “southern capital” becomes more independent.
IWPR: Experts says that that what Bishkek dislikes is Myrzakmatov using his influence to challenge central authority. How does his defiant attitude manifest itself?
Sikorskaya: Of course Bishkek doesn’t like the fact that the mayor is unpredictable and runs Osh according to his own rules. But in southern Kyrgyzstan, many people respect Myrzakmatov for his unorthodox actions and statements. In Kyrgyzstan, people are impressed by anyone they think has the guts to take on the central authorities. Two years ago, Myrzakmatov did not shy away from openly criticising the interim government, something that other officials at his level wouldn’t dare to do.
As a kind of signal that he mistrusted central government, he proposed setting up a municipal police force. Although that plan came to nothing, it only increased his popularity in the south. Another idea he planted was an initiative to transform all the schools where Uzbek is the teaching medium into Kyrgyz-language schools. That one bore fruit; it is already being implemented.
IWPR: Is this about the regional divide, the confrontation between the north and south of Kyrgyzstan?
Sikorskaya: There are elements of regionalism here. But there are also some members of the southern elite who are no less keen to see Myrzakmatov unseated so that they can extend their own influence.
IWPR: What makes Myrzakmatov so powerful – does he enjoy backing from the business elite in the south, or is it mass public support?
Sikorskaya: It’s both of those things. Of course, the mayor has supporters in all institutions, while the people see him as a strong leader and treat him like a national hero.
His confrontation with central authority and his glorification of the nation has led people to liken him to the Kyrgyz folk hero Manas. As a result, his appeal goes beyond the southern regions. The state newspapers Erkin Too and Kyrgyz Tuusu named him “mayor of the year” and “personality of 2012”.
He’s skilled at playing on nationalist sentiment among the electorate. That strikes a particular chord with uneducated people from rural areas who find it hard to distinguish between true patriotism and ethnic intolerance.
Many of the Russians and people from other ethnic groups in Osh whom I met acknowledge that the mayor has made a contribution to solving social problems. Osh always suffered from lack of clean drinking water. That has been partially solved by placing covers over open sources of water and fixing the mains networks. The heating for multi-storey buildings has improved. People also praise him for repairing the roads.
IWPR: What is Myrzakmatov doing to build bridges between different communities as part of reconciliation efforts following the ethnic violence of 2010?
Sikorskaya: The mayor often makes statements about uniting people of all the ethnic groups living in Osh. But his sometimes ill-considered plans have had some negative outcomes. For example, when Osh was rebuilt after the ethnic violence, the authorities built multi-storey blocks. The way they decided to house the victims was to give a Kyrgyz family an apartment next door to an Uzbek family. This policy of forced assimilation led to squabbles between neighbours, recriminations and tears. But it is possible the mayor sincerely believes this is the right way to reconcile people.
IWPR: What’s happening with the Uzbek community?
Sikorskaya: Of all the Uzbeks I met in Osh, only a few said they liked the mayor. Many describe him as a nationalist, and believe the local authorities are pursuing a policy of marginalising the Uzbeks and discriminating against them. They complain that the Uzbek language is being pushed out, and that the police and judiciary treat them unjustly.
Osh used to be famed for its Uzbek cafes with picturesque names. The owner of one Uzbek tea house told me she had been forced to change its name to a Kyrgyz one.
The Uzbeks feel intimidated and resentful. Most of the men are working as labour migrants in Russia, and more continue to leave. Many say that even now, they rarely venture outside their own neighbourhood to avoid getting into unpleasant situations. Men generally work locally, for example, baking traditional flat bread and somosas, which the women go out and sell. Some work as taxi drivers, and it’s noteworthy that Uzbek and Kyrgyz drivers use different taxi stands.
They say have problems finding jobs and they don’t see a future for their children there. Wives fear for their husbands, recalling cases where arbitrary arrests were followed by demands to pay for the detainees to be released. Those who paid such “ransoms” in the past are still repaying the debts they ran up.
Some people still haven’t received government compensation for the property they lost in arson attacks, but have got back on their feet by themselves.
When I asked one Uzbek women who set up a sewing workshop at home and now employs ten others what kept her going, she replied, “hope”.
IWPR: What was your impression of how Osh had changed since you last visited it?
Sikorskaya: This was my first visit to Osh since the tragic events of June 2010, when the city was burnt and destroyed.
Most of it has now been rebuilt. The southern capital looks clean and tidy. I visited almost all the locations where there was violence. It seemed to me that modern architecture is starting to dominate this ancient Fergana valley city as we used to know it, with its many Uzbek cafes, music and the delicious smell of plov [pilau rice]. After seven in the evening, the streets become deserted and most people prefer to stay indoors.
Interview conducted by Saule Mukhametrakhimova, IWPR Central Asia editor in London.
If you would like to comment or ask a question about this story, please contact our Central Asia editorial team at feedback.ca@iwpr.net.
