BISHKEK -- Youth activists and bloggers in Kyrgyzstan have been inviting people to bring "Roses for Roza" to celebrate outgoing Kyrgyz President Roza Otunbaeva's tenure, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports.
One of the organizers of the campaign, Sergei Makarov, told RFE/RL that "all those who want to do so are invited to [assemble at] the main flower bed in front of the government building in Bishkek on November 1, with a rose."
"With this action we would like to express our gratitude to Kyrgyzstan's first-ever reasonable and replaceable president," Makarov added.
The youth activists announced the initiative on October 31, saying they want to say "thank you" to Otunbaeva for not having appointed her relatives to government posts, for saving the state treasury from bankruptcy, and for creating conditions for a peaceful transfer of power by means of democratic elections.
The organizers plan to arrange flowers in front of the government building to form the word "Thanks."
Otunbaeva and her supporters came to power after President Kurmanbek Bakiev was ousted by mass protests in Bishkek on April 7, 2010. She served first as the leader of Kyrgyzstan's interim government, and then as president.
Otunbaeva did not run for reelection in the presidential poll on October 30. With most votes counted, former Prime Minister Almazbek Atambaev has claimed victory with some 63 percent of the vote.
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