Ex-president Bakiyev's supporters unite for parliamentary elections

BISHKEK -- Adakham Madumarov and Miroslav Niyazov, leaders of the Edinyi Kyrgyzstan and El Armany parties, announced July 29 they are uniting their parties ahead of the October parliamentary elections.

They united because their party programmes “share a unified political and socio-economic direction,” they said.

The combination has geographic appeal, Madumarov said, since his Edinyi Kyrgyzstan party is stronger in the north, while Niyazov’s El Armany has more support in the south.

The true reason for the parties to combine forces is their shared pro-Kurmanbek Bakiyev views, political scientist Mars Sariyev said.

“They didn't just accidentally unite,” he said. “They’re creating a mighty steel fist, a political alliance against the interim government and against the politicians who entered it and are entering it now.”

Madumarov was Bakiyev’s state secretary, while Niyazov was secretary of the Security Council. Consolidation of parties before elections is normal, said Arkadii Gladilov of the Sodruzhestvo Party. But there are other reasons behind this particular party merger, Gladilov said.

“In Kyrgyz politics a party merger isn’t based on shared political platforms; it’s based on the party leaders’ personal sympathies,” he said. “The union of Edinyi Kyrgyzstan and El Armany is also a merger of resources for participating in the campaign.”

Other political parties might yet join the alliance, Madumarov and Niyazov said at a Bishkek press conference announcing the merger.

Such parties might be those led by politicians who were close to Bakiyev, said Nur Omarov, head of the Association of Political Scientists.

“If they (the parties led by Bakiyev backers) combine their financial resources and supporters, they’ll create a considerable force that the interim government members’ parties will have a hard time fighting,” Omarov said.