Kyrgyz Ombudsman elections: three candidates and scary future.

The first time I saw Nurlan Motuev speaking was during the March 2005 ‘Revolution’ on TV, after listening for some five minutes I realized that I was doubting his sanity. Now he is running for ombudsman’s position.  He is known of seizing a land mine and criminal charges plus ‘an extraordinary personality’.

The current Ombudsman’s official website comments about another candidate Tursunbek Akun in similar manner  ‘Kyrgyz Ombudsman does not intend to comment stupid and libellous statements by chair of the [Kyrgyz] human rights  committee under president of Kyrgyzstan presented in mass media. The psychiatrists should comment on them’.

Tursunbek Akun is a former opposition activist and a devout Muslim. The commission that he used to chair has been dissolved on Kyrgyz President’s order recently.

24.kg website collected comments from political activists about the elections and candidates. Most of them were surprised to hear that Motuev is running.  Tokon Shailieva, leader of the least popular women and youth party ‘New Power’ said ‘I feel pity for my country’ while Galina Kulikova of president’s ‘Ak Jol’ party says that Motuev running is a ‘nonsense’. She personally would nominate female human rights activists Tolekan Ismailova or Aziza Abdirasulova.  

Out of the five mentioned activists I would only vote for Tolekan Ismailova, leader of NGO ‘Civil Societ Against Corruption’.  She was one of the very few human rights activists who signed a petition to stop homophobia in Kyrgyzstan in 2005 which to me is an indicator that she commits to human rights for everyone unlike the other four.

Among Kyrgyz NGOs we say that we are ‘just unlucky’ about the ombudsman who is supposed to help us not create more work. The next five years look just as unpromising.