The president could hardly finish his speech, because of the roaring noise of the crowd when he called the organizers of the meeting “blind politicians, if they don’t see any changes [in politics]”. The prime minister, known for his quick actions that stopped the overnight lootings on March 24, 2005, in his turn enjoyed a relatively warmer reaction. He assured the people that the government is doing everything to stabilize the situation.

The demonstration, organized by the Union of Democratic Forces, built of about 50 parties and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), put an ultimatum to the government: unless the president tackles the criminals, finishes constitutional reforms, and fights corruption, they want him to resign.

The main organizers of meeting were the leader of the Coalition for Democracy and Civil Society, Edil Baisalov, the vigorous critic of Kyrgyzstan’s criminal scene, who is recovering from an April 12 criminal assault; Parliamentarian Omurbek Tekebaev, who left the position of Speaker of Parliament in February, according to some experts because of his personal bad relations with the president.

The rally also included other members of parliament like Kubatbek Baybolov, Temirbek Sariev, and Melis Eshimkanov, ardent members of the opposition. The recently voluntarily resigned Minister of Industry and Tourism, Almazbek Atambaev, also strengthened their line. He explained his action as a protest against the government that fails to check the criminal forces gradually penetrating into politics.

The peaceful rally was said to be as intense as the meeting before the so-called Tulip Revolution; that rally was also thought to be peaceful but eventually culminated in the ouster of the previous president, Askar Akaev. The differences were that the protestors, as Edil Baisalov said, this time did not include marginalized people, bandits, and other people who could lead the crowd to excesses. This time, there were no banners calling for resignation of the president. The law enforcement forces, counting up to 1,500, in contrast tried to protect the crowd from provocateurs rather than the government from the people. Around 400 women police officers distributed flowers to protesters. Finally, the fact that President Kurmanbek Bakiev came out to people, despite what he admitted was worries over his security, somehow eased the determination of the crowd to stay until the government showed some intention to meet their demands.

Even though the top government officials did not say anything about handling criminals and fulfilling their pre-election promises, many rally organizers believe that the meeting reached its objective. Mr. Tekebaev observed that there were not only political objectives, but also moral ones. “The people started believing in their power”, he says. However, he hardly believes that the government goes along with them. Therefore, he says that the more they postpone, the more demands the people will have.

Nonetheless, the president, engaging in harsh criticism of the opposition, tries to show his accountability before the people. Early in April, he arranged a meeting called “Dialogue” on state television with the opposition and other interested people, where the people could touch on various themes. He argues that he is not a “czar” with unlimited power to change everything overnight. He also emphasized that he is not the only one to blame; he shares power with the executive branch, parliament, and the judiciary.

The opposition does not exclude the possibility that the current president may face the same fate as the previous one. As if the time is up, the civic activists, the part of the opposition, are already embarked upon drafting a list of candidates for the government, which makes the incumbent government nervous.

“If there had not been rain, more people would have come, which would reach 40,000”, said parliamentarian Temir Sariev. “Although the government’s effort to negatively affect people’s attitudes towards the meeting through state mass media, we had the widespread support of people, which is important”.