Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said the new Kyrgyzstan Constitution, endorsed in a referendum by the vast majority in Kyrgyzstan on Sunday, could create a “collapse of the state.”
The constitution paves the way for Kyrgyzstan to become the first Central Asian country to implement true democratic rule and will change the country into a democracy with a European-style parliamentary system.
“I am not sure how a model of parliamentary republic will work in Kyrgyzstan,” said Medvedev at the G-20 meeting in Toronto on Sunday. “Eventually, won’t it enable the political parties, which have extremist direction, to receive the power?”
The United States welcomed the new constitution as an opportunity to reconcile ethic groups in Kyrgyzstan. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley praised the referendum and called on the provisional government to push the country toward “stability, security, democracy, and prosperity,” in a statement.
Kyrgyzstan has been in a state of upheaval since April when former authoritarian President Kurmanbek Bakiyev was deposed in a violent coup. Bakiyev fled to the neighboring Republic of Belarus.
The interim Kyrgyzstan government proposed the new constitution, and after Sunday’s successful referendum, will hold parliamentary elections in the fall.
The country’s interim President, Roza Otunbaeva, will continue to act as president as well as prime minister until the elections.
Sixty-nine percent of the country’s 3 million eligible voters turned out to vote. Ninety percent of those who came out voted in favor of the new constitution, according to Kyrgyzstan’s Central Electoral Commission.
Ethnic Violence
The referendum came only a week after ethic clashes in southern Kyrgyzstan calmed.
Violence first erupted in early June in the city of Osh. Official numbers say 251 people died and 400,000 were displaced, but Kyrgyz authorities say the real number of dead could be 10 times higher.
Tens of thousands Uzbek refugees are gradually returning to their homes after having fled to neighboring Uzbekistan.
Before the referendum, Human Rights Watch had raised concerns that the referendum would escalate violence, but Sunday’s vote was peaceful.
Authorities have extended a 9:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. curfew in Osh, Uzgen, and other neighboring areas until Aug. 10.
The United Nation has appealed for $71 million in funds to rebuild destroyed homes, business centers, government buildings, and other constructions before winter arrives.
