21 April, 2010In an eyewitness account of mass protests in Kyrgyzstan, IMF Regional Representative for CIS Countries reports on the events of April 7 and 8 and gives an overview of what is occurring in the country as political unrest continues.
KYRGYZSTAN: Political unrest is continuing in Kyrgyzstan after mass protests by a frustrated population led by opposition political leaders resulted in a change of government on April 7, 2010.
In a country where 20 per cent of the population works in foreign countries to escape grinding poverty, recent steep rises in electricity prices triggered violent protests that resulted in at least 80 deaths and saw angry crowds overthrow the corrupt Bakiyev clan's government.
The unrest, accompanied with looting and robbery, has ruined the small business infrastructure in a country where small business was the main source of tax revenue and guaranteed many jobs in trade and services.
While humanitarian aid is entering the country the new Interim Government has little chance of surviving without foreign financial aid, which is near impossible while the country remains on the brink of civil war. The situation is further complicated given the geopolitical interests of Russia and the U.S.: Kyrgyzstan is near to Afghanistan and hosts a U.S. military base.
International Metalworkers' Federation (IMF) Regional Representative for CIS Countries, Vadim Borisov happened to arrive in Kyrgyzstan in the moment the country plunged into chaos on April 7, 2010.
In an eyewitness account and background report published on the IMF Website, Borisov describes the sound of gun fire, the falling of dead and injured bodies, the political events that unfolded in Kyrgyzstan and the broader political and geopolitical context of the situation.
"By a confluence of circumstances I came to Kyrgyzstan early in the morning of April 7, when the mass protests in Bishkek leading to the overthrow of the regime began. On the plane with me was an opposition activist Temir Sariyev. He was arrested in the airport," reports Borisov.
"New sounds suddenly enter the consciousness - the sounds of dismay, danger and death. Having spent a day in distressed Bishkek, I learned to distinguish booming claps of exploding cars, clicks of snipers' rifles and hissing sounds of tear-gas cartridges," writes Borisov.
The full report in English and Russian can be viewed on the IMF website here.