Constitutional Reform Process Faces Delay

A lack of consensus among elite groups in Kyrgyzstan is holding up efforts to adopt a new constitution, NBCentralAsia observers believe.



Kyrgyzstan was supposed to decide between three possible drafts later this year, but NBCentralAsia has been informed that additional proposals drawn up by parliamentarians are now being discussed in the assembly, potentially drawing out the reform process.



In March, a working group headed by leading opposition leader Azimbek Beknazarov was charged with preparing three drafts offering different forms of constitutional system, which were to be ready by the autumn.



In August, the working group, after collating the numerous drafts then in circulation, produced its three versions. NBCentralAsia understands that one draft is expected to reinforce the powers of the president; another is looking to amend the old constitution by granting political parties greater influence; and the third would extend the powers of the legislature.



It was envisaged that parliament would debate only these three options, although it has yet to be decided whether the constitution will be approved by the legislature or a referendum.



The introduction of more drafts may have been prompted by criticism of the working group’s three drafts, voiced by the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe at the beginning of September. The commission said that approving the one which stipulated a strong presidency would be a setback for democracy.



But NBCentralAsia analysts say that the main reason why multiple drafts have emerged is the lack of consensus amongst the country’s main political players, which will hold up efforts to adopt a constitution.



Prime Minister Felix Kulov sent his own draft to parliament on October 9, a week after Beknazarov told reporters that President Kurmanbek Bakiev was working on his own version. NBCentralAsia has learned that a group of members of parliament are also producing a constitutional draft.



Bakiev’s version is likely to favour retaining the president’s current powers – or giving him more. Kulov’s document is in fact the current constitution reworked with some amendments to allow political parties to play a bigger role, while parliament will no doubt want a lot more authority to be vested in itself.



(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region.)