Kirgisistan/Bischkek
Agenda: constitutional referendum

Здание Жогорку Кенеша Кыргызской Республики

Kyrgyzstan 8 : Germany 0

Since independence in Kyrgyzstan 7 constitutional referendums (1994, 1996, 1998, 2003, 2007, 2010, 2016) plus one presidential referendum (1994) were organized.

During the same time period there was not one constitutional referendum hold in Germany.

What is in general the purpose of such an important event like a constitutional referendum: Improvement of foundations of constitutional order, human and civil rights and freedoms, government system, optimization and division of duties between branches of power, other related issues.

But in this context in Germany according article 79 of the constitution during any referendum it is impossible to touch the basic human and civil rights and freedoms, dignity of citizens, parliamentary form of government and the overall structure of Germany as a secular, democratic and social constitutional state.

If Kyrgyzstan wants to make better the life of their citizens, a constitutional reform may be an alternative, but it should be prepared carefully, discussed by all parts of the society and agreed within a sufficient time frame. Not in 3 or 4 weeks! You remember: “Saskan scheytandin ischi!”

But what happens now in Kyrgyzstan:

1. There is an official statement of Venice Commission: During the period of prorogation, i. e. of diminished powers (after postponement of parliamentary elections beyond the time limit determined by the constitutional duration of the mandate), the Parliament is only allowed to carry out some ordinary functions, whereas it is not allowed to approve extraordinary measures, including constitutional reforms. So, Kyrgyzstan is going ahead against the understanding of rule of law in European countries.

2. As already mentioned, a draft for a new constitution was prepared hastily without the opportunity of a wide discussion. To expect that ordinary citizens (almost most of them without juridical knowledge) will read the draft document of 44 pages is an illusion. Most of them will vote in the referendum for a piece of paper they have not read before but will influence their life in next future dramatically.

So, therefore I personally carry doubts about the total process and have the impression that also this new constitutional reform again is an instrument of a political group to increase his future political power. It was the same in the previous constitutional referendums in Kyrgyzstan: Purpose was not the welfare of the citizens, but to increase political influence. And this was also the case in 2016. The ones now criticizing the new draft initiated constitutional changes despite the valid moratorium for 10 years.

Макс Георг Майер, координатор пректов ФХЗ в Центаральной Азии

I am also wondering how fast people in Kyrgyzstan forget: You had twice a traditional presidential structure with all political power allocated to him to run the country and twice it ended with a disaster. Why now the third attempt should be successful?

The country is facing a lot of problems. The country needs transparent effective good governance. But what is done in the draft of the new constitution: Parallel to all the problematic political and administrative structures you put as additional instrument the historical Kurultai – with untransparent tasks and responsibilities. You don`t need any more Kurultai, you have nowadays elected effective local self-government units in your country.

I am afraid that this “new” constitution will create a “monster” state structure which will be not able to increase the low GDP per capita of 1,300 USD per year which is far from the real potential of the country.

Now coming to the end of my doubts and concerns:

I don´t expect that this constitutional reform process will bring any real progress to the country.

It is worth noting that all the problems of your society and state are not directly related to the Constitution, they are related only to the practice of adopting and implementing laws, and good governance. First of all, you need honest politicians and professional civil and municipal servants working as a patriot for  the benefits of their citizens.

On the other side Kyrgyz experts are right: You need urgently political and administrative reforms: For a country with a population of a little bit more than 6 million (therefrom 1 million working in Russia) you do not need 7 administrative levels/layers (National security council, president administration, government apparatus, ministries and agencies, oblast administration, rayon administration, city/municipality administration). You should make the political management and decision-making process faster, more stringent, transparent, and easy to understand for the citizens. Nowadays the decision-making power is distributed between president, parliament, and also state committee for national security – a construction which makes it difficult to run the country.