Kyrgyzstan Sets June Vote for President

Parliament approved plans for a June presidential election as Kyrgyzstan’s new authorities struggled Saturday to solidify the legal basis for their takeover of power from ousted President Askar A. Akayev.

Acting President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, a former opposition leader, said he expected to run.

Up to 3,000 Akayev supporters rallied Saturday in his home region of Chym Korgon, 55 miles from Bishkek, declaring that they would march on the capital.

In Moscow, the Kremlin issued a statement Saturday implying that Akayev was in Russia. “Askar Akayev asked to come to Russia, and this opportunity has been granted to him,” the statement said. Akayev, 60, had been president since 1990, when Kyrgyzstan was still part of the Soviet Union.

Kyrgyzstan is a poor, mountainous country of 5 million strategically located near Afghanistan, China and key oil- producing nations of the Caspian Sea region. Both the United States and Russia maintain military bases near Bishkek.

Akayev left the country Thursday in the wake of massive protests and the takeover of government buildings by demonstrators angry over alleged electoral fraud. In the elections of late February and mid-March, a more strongly pro-Akayev parliament was chosen, but Kyrgyzstan’s Supreme Court on Thursday rejected the legitimacy of the disputed elections, thereby transferring power back to the outgoing parliament.

The old parliament approved the June 26 presidential balloting Saturday. But in a reflection of the legal chaos and political infighting that now besets Kyrgyzstan, lawmakers from the old parliament’s upper and lower houses and the new unicameral parliament gathered in three different meeting rooms of the parliament building.

Despite fierce political jockeying, their presence in the same building reflected movement toward compromise. The new parliament did not hold a formal session, but its members occupied the main meeting hall.

At an afternoon news conference, Bakiyev described the issue of the new parliament’s status as “very tricky and complicated.” But he implied that once disputes over 14 contested seats in the new parliament were resolved, it might be possible for authority to be shifted to that body. Some former opposition leaders have suggested that a new legislative vote would be held after the June presidential balloting.

Bakiyev said the new authorities aim to build “a democratic country, economically developing, with freedom of speech, human rights and the rule of law.”

Bakiyev also defended Thursday’s chaotic overthrow of Akayev by a few thousand protesters who stormed the main government building. The incident, he said, was not an organized coup but rather the unplanned result of a demonstration that spun out of control after backers of Akayev got into fights with demonstrators.

“I’m not in favor of this way of taking power, but since it’s happened, what can we do?” he said. “Nobody expected this event to take place. They had no idea this kind of protest could trigger this. As a result of some cases of fighting, they got in the White House.”

Bakiyev’s news conference was scheduled to be held in the White House, the main government building. But after assembling there, journalists were told it was being moved to the security services headquarters because of an assassination threat against Bakiyev.

Asked about the threat, Bakiyev replied, “The question of my security exists.” Bakiyev described the pro-Akayev protesters in Chym Korgon as “provocateurs who do not want to see stability in Bishkek.”

“Our security agents are working on this,” he added. “We will soon deal with the agitators.”

Felix Kulov, an opposition leader released from prison Thursday and named the country’s security chief, appeared on state-run television to thank police, security officers and citizen volunteers whom he credited with restoring order in Bishkek after extensive looting Thursday night and some attempted thefts Friday night. “With your help, the situation changed sharply, and there will be no repeat” of the disorder, he said.

Kulov said during a news conference Saturday that he did not expect the Chym Korgon protesters to come to Bishkek. “They went a few kilometers ... but the other villages did not join them,” he said. “They are not moving anymore.”

The Russian news agency Itar-Tass reported that the pro-Akayev protesters carried posters saying: “No to coup d’etat.”

Bakiyev said at his news conference that Kyrgyzstan’s close economic and cultural ties with Russia would remain strong.

The new authorities will not attempt to extradite or prosecute Akayev, he said. Bakiyev also acknowledged Akayev’s role in establishing Kyrgyzstan as an independent nation after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.

“He is the first president of the republic, who did very much for the development of our state, for its sovereignty,” he said. “I must admit Akayev should be credited for that.”