The “Erkindik” party, one of the largest in Kyrgyzstan, has collected the necessary amount of signatures for the dissolution of the Parliament. It is the party’s second attempt to gather signatures for this purpose. The first attempt was in the summer of this year, but the CEC at that time refused to approve it. This time, according to the party’s leader, all the conditions of CEC were met. Turgunaliev told the News Agency “Gazeta.kg” that “there are 32 deputies in the current Parliament from the “Alga” party, which was created by Akayev’s family. They were elected with the help of administrative recourses, mass bribery, and falsification of election results. These people were supporters of Akaev’s regime. This Parliament is one of the negative remnants of the authoritarian system of government”.

If the CEC approves the validity of the signatures gathered, the President has to call for a referendum. President Kurmanbek Bakiev only commented that “I will work with current Parliament and it is inexpedient to dissolve it”. Prime Minister Felix Kulov also expressed his view on this issue in his interview to Akipress News Agency, noting that “if we will dissolve this parliament, we will have to elect the same people in the next elections. If we want to change not only the people, but also the system, which I personally do not support, we have to turn to a Proportional Representation Electoral System”.

Members of Parliament, in turn, do not take the idea of dissolving Parliament seriously. Melis Eshimkanov stated that it is impossible to dissolve the legislative branch in the situation of existing socio-political instability. Another member of parliament, Kubatbek Baibolov, argued that “dissolution, if it takes place, would put in doubt the legitimacy of the presidential election, and consequently, the legitimacy of president. In our current socio-political and economic situation, it would be the wrong decision”.

The “Erkindik” party’s leader does not agree with these opinions. He thinks that there is a need to dissolve the current Parliament in order to stabilize the situation in the country. As he said in a recent interview, people want to dissolve Parliament and if that does not happen, it is possible that there will be a new wave of disturbances in the country. Initially, one of the main goals of the March events was the dissolution of Parliament. In the case of its dissolution, according to Turgunaliev, new elections to the Parliament could be conducted in the Spring of 2006.

Turgunaliev was one of the founders of the Democratic Movement of Kyrgyzstan in 1990. On February 9, 1991, he established the Democratic Party “Erkin Kyrgyzstan”. Later, in 2000, it was reorganized into the Democratic Party “Erkindik”. Early on, hea was an Akayev supporter, but later joined the opposition. Due to his political activities, there were three criminal cases brought against him, including misappropriation of $10,000, while he was President of Bishkek Humanitarian University in 1995. During the March revolution, he supported Bakiev and remains one of the supporters of the President.

There is theory that Turgunaliev is carrying out a secret mission on behalf of President Bakiev. Today, the President and the Parliament disagree on various issues, and the President wants to have a trump card at hand in order to push Parliament to approve some policies proposed by the President. The Speaker of Parliament recently alleged that regional authorities are helping the “Erkindik” party representatives gather signatures.

On December 6, “Erkindik” sent the signatures to the CEC for approval. The CEC has not yet made any statements concerning the validity of the signatures.