Ousted Kyrgyz President Agrees on Terms of Exit

The ousted president of Kyrgyzstan said Sunday he had reached agreement with representatives of his nation’s parliament on terms for him to officially resign today in a ceremony at the Kyrgyz Embassy here.

Askar A. Akayev, who was forced from power last month by a largely nonviolent popular uprising, told reporters at the embassy that he had agreed with the parliamentary delegation on the wording of a four-part resignation protocol.

“The protocol speaks good words, which are necessary for the legitimacy of future elections, democracy and national integrity,” Akayev said. “We have adopted a historic document. It will serve peace, reconciliation and settlement of the national political crisis.”

Akayev’s resignation will legitimize plans already announced to hold a presidential election June 26 to choose his replacement. Acting President Kurmanbek Bakiyev and Felix Kulov, another key former opposition leader, have said they expect to run. Several other candidates also have declared their intent to enter the race.

The agreement was reached during three hours of negotiations between Akayev and the delegation, which was led by Omurbek Tekebayev, a longtime critic of the ousted president and now speaker of the parliament.

Tekebayev, standing next to Akayev, said the agreement would “ensure peace and legitimacy.”

Akayev, 60, became president in 1990, when Kyrgyzstan was still part of the Soviet Union. He was among the less authoritarian leaders in a region known for strongman regimes but became increasingly unpopular in recent years.

Opposition protests grew over alleged fraud during parliamentary elections held in February. They peaked last month with protesters storming the main government building in the capital, Bishkek, on March 24, causing Akayev to flee to Russia.

The protests drew strength from opposition fears that Akayev would use his allegedly fraudulent parliamentary victory to rewrite the constitution, allowing him to remain in power for another five-year term. Under the current constitutional term limits, he was supposed to step down later this year.

In recent days, Akayev said repeatedly that he would negotiate the terms of his resignation only with representatives of the new parliament, which he described as the only legitimate political body in Kyrgyzstan.

Akayev said that under the resignation agreement, parliament would pass a resolution confirming his privileges as a former head of state.

Under Kyrgyzstan’s constitution, a former president is promised personal security and immunity from prosecution.

The former opposition leaders now in power have said they have no desire to eliminate those guarantees.

But many in Kyrgyzstan believe Akayev and his family became wealthy through corruption, and the ousted president apparently desired fresh assurances that they would be safe from criminal proceedings or imprisonment.

Akayev said Russia and Kazakhstan were listed as guarantors.

Emil Aliev, deputy chairman of the Ar-Namys Party, headed by Kulov, praised the agreement in a telephone interview from Bishkek.

“I think that today the Kyrgyz people showed the whole world that they can solve all issues within the law,” Aliev said.

“We didn’t want everyone to think that we simply dethroned our first president and forgot our history. With this step, Kyrgyzstan shows that it is a part of the family of those states that are committed to democracy.”

Aliev said the country “should be magnanimous to Akayev.”

“Nothing serious will happen if Akayev returns,” he said. “We should do everything possible in order for Akayev to live in Kyrgyzstan and be a full citizen of the republic.”

Kulov, a former interior minister, was released from prison on the day of Akayev’s ouster, then hours later put in charge of the country’s security forces.

Since then, much political speculation in Kyrgyzstan has focused on whether Bakiyev and Kulov would remain close political allies through the June 26 election or would run against each other.

Bakiyev had said quickly that he planned to run, but Kulov had withheld comment until an interview broadcast Sunday by a television station in neighboring Kazakhstan.

Kulov said then that if his conviction on charges of corruption and abuse of power were overturned, he would run in the presidential election.

Such a reversal of his sentence is widely expected, as he had been viewed widely as a political prisoner.

“We do not have a single opposition,” Kulov said in the interview.

“You should understand this correctly. We have three opposition blocs. The revolution is over.”