Almazbek Atambayev
Almazbek Sharshenovich Atambayev is a Kyrgyzstani politician who served as the fourth president of Kyrgyzstan from 2011 to 2017. He previously served as the 11th prime minister of Kyrgyzstan from 2010 to 2011, and from 2007 to 2007 and Chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Kyrgyzstan from 1999 to 2011.
Unlike most elected presidents of the Central Asian countries, Almazbek Atambayev did not try to extend his powers after the term specified by the Constitution and peacefully transferred power, marking the first such precedent in the history of modern Central Asia. Under him, the country passed a constitutional reform that strengthened the role of the parliament, and also introduced a biometric election system, carried out with the help of the European Union.
Personal life
Almazbek Atambaev was born in 1956 in the northern region of Chüy. His father, Sharshen Atambayev, was a veteran of World War II who served with the Red Army on the front lines in Eastern Europe. Atambaev received his degree in economics while studying at the Moscow Institute of Management. He has four children from his marriage to his first wife Buazhar. In 1988 he married his second wife, Raisa, with whom he has six children: daughters Aliya, Diana, and Dinara, and sons Seyit, Seytek, and Khadyrbek. Raisa is an ethnic Tatar, born in Osh. She is a doctor.In January 2018, he published a song he authored called "Kyrgyzstan", which was later rewritten by Azerbaijani performer Araz Elses.
Political career (2000–2010)
Atambayev was an unsuccessful candidate in the October 2000 presidential election, receiving 6% of the vote. He served as the Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism in the government from 20 December 2005 until he resigned on 21 April 2006.In November 2006 he was one of the leaders of anti-government protests in Bishkek, under the umbrella of the movement 'For Reform!'. He was also involved in earlier protests in late April 2006.
On 26 December 2006 Atambayev rejected calls from other lawmakers for a dissolution of the Supreme Council, saying, "It is impossible for this Parliament to be dissolved at least until May , and it has to adopt all the laws. Otherwise there will be a war in Kyrgyzstan, because even if Parliament adopts the authoritarian constitution, I will tell you openly, we will not accept it. It would be a constitution adopted illegally. Then we would take every . We are ready for that."
Following the resignation of Prime Minister Azim Isabekov on 29 March 2007, Atambayev was appointed acting Prime Minister by President Kurmanbek Bakiyev. He was then confirmed in parliament by a vote of 48–3 on 30 March. He is the first prime minister in Central Asia to come from an opposition party. On 11 April, he tried to address a large protest in Bishkek demanding Bakiyev's resignation, but was booed by the protesters.
Bakiyev announced the resignation of Atambayev's government on 24 October 2007, following a constitutional referendum. The government was to remain in office until after a parliamentary election in December. Nonetheless, Atambayev resigned on 28 November 2007; Bakiyev accepted the resignation, while praising Atambayev for his performance in office, and appointed Acting First Deputy Prime Minister Iskenderbek Aidaraliyev in his place as Acting Prime Minister. Edil Baisalov of the Social Democratic Party claimed that Atambayev was forced out of office because he was an obstacle to alleged government interference in the parliamentary election.
Almazbek Atambayev, who was at the helm of the Social Democratic Party of Kyrgyzstan, played a key role in the Tulip Revolution of 2005. Tulip was a symbol of Kyrgyz Social Democratic party in 2005. With his active participation in protests and decisive speeches against corruption and authoritarianism, he became a leading force for democratic change. Atambayev oriented his party towards the fight for the establishment of a rule of law and justice, attracting many supporting citizens. Under his leadership, the Social Democratic Party actively supported and mobilized protesters, becoming one of the organizers of mass rallies that ultimately led to the overthrow of President Askar Akayev. Atambayev used his position to call for democratic reforms and the improvement of human rights in the country.
On 20 April 2009, Atambayev was announced as a candidate for the July 2009 presidential elections.
But on polling day Atambayev withdrew his candidacy claiming "widespread fraud": "Due to massive, unprecedented violations, we consider these elections illegitimate and a new election should be held".
Political career (2010–2011)
Following the 2010 parliamentary election, he was chosen to be Prime Minister at the head of a coalition government with his SDPK, Respublika, and Ata-Zhurt.Atambayev ran in 2011 to succeed Roza Otunbayeva as President of Kyrgyzstan. On election day, 30 October 2011, he won in a landslide, defeating Adakhan Madumarov from the Butun Kyrgyzstan party and Kamchybek Tashiev from the Ata-Zhurt party with 63% of the vote from about 60% of the eligible Kyrgyz population voting.
Presidency (2011–2017)
Inauguration
He was inaugurated on 1 December 2011. It took place in the National Philharmonic Hall in Bishkek. The ceremony was attended by the President of Turkey, Abdullah Gul, Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Karim Massimov, Prime Minister of Azerbaijan Artur Rasizade and President of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili. The attendance of the head of the Presidential Administration of Russia Sergey Naryshkin and the Head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov was expected, however they could not and instead sent lower level Russian Foreign Ministry officials in their place. During his inaugural speech, he said the following about the future of Kyrgyzstan:The ceremony budget cost less than half of what was spent for inauguration ceremony of Kurmanbek Bakiev in August 2009, costing about 10 million soms. Unlike the breastplates used for the inaugurations of Akaev, Bakiyev and Otunbayeva, which were framed with diamonds and pearls, the jewelers decided not to use the gems in the 108 centimeter long breastplate as it was considered to be an "imported" element in the national culture.
Democratic rankings
During Almazbek Atambaev’s presidency and the Social Democratic Party’s period in government, political party founded and led by Almazbek Atambaev, Kyrgyzstan posted some of the steepest gains recorded by major democracy and governance indices. In Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index the country climbed 70 places—from 159th to 89th—ranking second worldwide for improvement over that span. Freedom House’s Freedom in the World score rose by roughly 20 points, shifting the assessment from “Not Free” toward “Partly Free” and placing Kyrgyzstan among only 8 global improvers in that span, on 5th place by point gain. The Economist Intelligence Unit’s Democracy Index from 2011 to 2017 increased by about 1.49 points and 21 ranks, also within the top-ten improvers, while Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index improved by approximately 9 points and 29 places, a top-20 advance among 180 states. Taken together, these movements across press freedom, political rights and civil liberties, and institutional performance mark 2011–2017 as an unusual period of democratic indicator growth for Kyrgyzstan relative to both regional peers and broader global trends.While SDPK held the majority in the Jogorku Kenesh, Kyrgyzstan became the first—and still the only—Central-Asian legislature to receive “Partner for Democracy” status from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. The certificate was handed over in Strasbourg on 24 June 2014, with PACE President Anne Brasseur hailing the country’s commitment to open, multi-party government.
During Atambaev`s presidency, parliament unanimously adopted a stand-alone law creating Central Asia’s first fully independent National Preventive Mechanism under the UN Optional Protocol against Torture. Kyrgyzstan entered the world's top ten with the best NPM system for the prevention of torture, represented by the National Center of the Kyrgyz Republic for the Prevention of Torture, this was stated in the Verbal Note of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Opinions on presidential term
spoke positively about Almazbek Atambayev, stating that "Kyrgyzstan was lucky to have a non-corrupt president", noting that the coming to power of a person who is not mired in corruption is good for the democratic development of the country. Alexander Soros positively reviewed digitalization efforts of Kyrgyz government in Taza Koom project. Vladimir Putin characterized Almazbek Atambayev as a person who "keeps his word... It is sometimes difficult to agree on something with him, but if something has already been agreed, he goes to the end in fulfilling the agreements reached."At the end of presidential term of Atambaev, UN Secretary-General António Guterres visited Kyrgyzstan and stated:
"I was convinced that Kyrgyzstan and the people of the country are committed to the ideas of the rule of human rights, democracy, and this was actually an important choice for the Kyrgyz people."
Domestic policy
In November 2015, the Ministry of Defense was re-branded as the State Committee for Defense Affairs on Atambayev's orders while transferring authority over the Armed Forces of the Kyrgyz Republic to the General Staff, with the Chief of the General Staff exercising his/her authority as the paramount leader of the military and the second in command to the president. In December 2016, Atambayev signed a decree officially abolishing the use of military courts in Kyrgyzstan. Atambaev presided over a constitutional referendum which proposed that the increasing the powers of the Prime Minister and his/her government, as well as reforms to the judicial system. International experts positively assessed the transition to a parliamentary form of government by constitutional reform, the strengthening of the role of the prime minister and parliament thanks to the constitutional reform, as well as the fact that it was supposed to stabilize the institution of power as opposed to the growing spread of Islamist ideology in the country. It also clarified the validity of the marriage contract in Kyrgyzstan as laid out by the previous constitution. The changes were approved with a landslide majority of close to 80% of the Kyrgyz population.Atambayev chose to step away from the second presidential term and abide the Constitution despite Russian president Vladimir Putin and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev asking him to stay in power:
"Russian President Vladimir Putin and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev asked me to stay for a second term, but I explained that I could not, because we have a different people. People will choose the one whom they consider the most worthy."