President Offers Job to Opposition Figure

Melis Eshimkanov, an opposition member of the Kyrgyz parliament has been offered a position as ambassador to Switzerland. NBCentralAsia commentators say the authorities may be seeking to neutralise some of their opponents.



On May 28, an official proposal to appoint Melis Eshimkanov as ambassador to Switzerland was submitted to the parliamentary foreign relations committee.



In an interview with 24.kg news agency, Eshimkanov said that President Kurmanbek Bakiev has agreed to make some concessions to the opposition if he accepts the post. He has not yet agreed to take the job.



Eshimkanov would replace Muktar Jumaliev, who has been ambassador to Switzerland since 2004 and will be given another foreign ministry position.



Until last week, Eshimkanov owned one of the most popular opposition newspapers in the Kyrgyz language, Agym (Stream). He sold the paper to a businessman with opposition leanings and the expectation is that the paper will retain the same viewpoint.



As a member of the Movement for Reforms, which joined forces with the United Front for a Worthy Future for Kyrgyzstan led by former prime minister Felix Kulov, Eshimkanov took an active role in the opposition demonstrations in April which were ultimately broken up by riot police.



After the protest, the authorities blocked the publication of several editions of Agym. The newspaper has become one of the few key mouthpieces of the opposition since it lost access to television broadcasts. The opposition’s voice in the media has been muffled over the last few months, in contrast to the demonstrations in November, when it used a local television channel to rouse support for its street protests.



According to Edil Baisalov, leader of the NGO Coalition for Democracy and Civil Society, the diplomatic appointment amounts to “an honourable and most likely pleasant form of exile”.



“Eshimkanov has said he’s tired and has agreed to take time out,” added Baisalov.



Sergei Masaulov, an expert with the Centre for Social Technologies, says the president’s offer reflects a new trend in Kyrgyz politics, where opponents are offered positions either in government or abroad.



“The ambassadorial appointments are for those who might be too politically dangerous or difficult at home here, so it’s better to send them abroad,” he explained.



Tamerlan Ibraimov, director of the Centre for Political and Legal Studies, agrees, saying that “the authorities’ tactics have changed - [they are trying to] divide and weaken the opposition”.



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