Reform of the Kyrgyz constitution is at the heart of the current political crisis, and the recent agreement by the opposition and pro-Bakiev parliament members on a draft constitution is a potential breakthrough. With the first real outbreak of violence and subsequent security crackdown today, and reports of more supporters on both sides flooding into the city tonight, conditions were ripe for a bigger confrontation. This agreement to go over the new draft consitution, which significantly reduces the power of the presidency, just may keep tempers down for now. Read here for more information on this development
This character wins my demonstrator of the week award. Of course these big demonstrations can brink out the kooks, but this guy raised the bar for both sides. On the first day of demonstrations, he stood among the crowd outside the Parliament shouting to anyone who would listen: "I love Kyrgyzstan! I love Kyrgyz people! I love Kyrgyz girls! But I don't like Bakiev!" Some enterprising soul needs to put this slogan on t-shirts and sell it at the protests.
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