Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Kyrgyzstan

Bakiev Suggests Scrapping Prime Minister Post

President Bakiev (RFE/RL)

Bishkek, 5 November 2005 (RFE/RL) -- Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiev
today proposed that the prime minister position be abolished in the
future and the president become head of the government.

TEXT SIZE - +

November 05, 2005

Bakiev made the remark at today's meeting of the constitutional council, the body preparing the first draft of the amendments to the Kyrgyz Constitution.

Bakiev proposed scrapping the prime minister post in 2010 (after the current term of the presidency expires) and establishing a vice presidential position.

Bakiev explained why he would wait until 2010: "If [Kyrgyzstan's] president would chair the government himself, and he would be also responsible for economy, it would be right. However, you know that together with the current prime minister Feliks Sharshenbayevich [Kulov], we have established a union, a tandem after the 24 March [Tulip Revolution in Kyrgyzstan]. If I would propose [uniting both positions of president and prime minister] right now, then some people might say 'Now he is trying to get rid of Kulov.'"

Bakiev also criticized a current provision which, Bakiev says, treats the president as "a god" and does not hold him responsible for his actions.

Bakiev said that in future some parliament seats should be elected on party lists. The party-list system was eliminated during Askar Akaev's regime, after the February 2003 constitutional referendum.

The council will have another meeting on 10 November and then the draft amendments will be published in the local press. A nationwide debate of it will be held by 25 December and then it will be wrapped-up by the constitutional council.

The ongoing effort to reform the constitution is one of the main challenges to strengthen democratic institutions in Kyrgyzstan.

(RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service)

A vendor in the central Bosnian town of Zenica sells heart-shaped cushions with proclamations of love for 1 euro each.

Love It (Or Hate It), It's Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day, the Western holiday celebrating love, has become a global phenomenon over the past two decades. The fall of communism and the emergence of the Internet have helped February 14 become something of an unofficial international day of romance. However, not all the passions the holiday stirs are related to love. While some countries have openly embraced the holiday, others are attempting to ban it or replace it with local customs. More

Production and distribution of rap music is not officially banned, but it

Yo! Turkmen Rappers Flip The Script On Repression

For a growing number of Turkmen youth, rap music has become a way to express their daily struggles and inspire political change in one of the world's most oppressive countries. More