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Born in 1944, Askar Akaev successfully obtained advanced degrees in science and worked as an engineer, scientific researcher, and professor during the Soviet era.

Akaev rose to prominence in the Kyrgyz Communist Party, initially as head of its Department of Science and Higher Academic Institutions. He later became vice-president and then president of the Kyrgyz Academy of Sciences, and in 1990 became President of the Kyrgyz Soviet Socialist Republic. Running unopposed, Akaev won the presidency of independent Kyrgyzstan in 1991 and consolidated power through a presidential referendum in 1994. Akaev was re-elected to his second term of office in 1995.

Despite a constitutional provision limiting the head of state to two terms in office, Akaev ran for president again in 2000. That year the government introduced mandatory Kyrgyz language testing for potential presidential candidates, which served to eliminate twelve of nineteen candidates. Three political leaders who intended to contest the elections were brought up on criminal charges and thus disqualified:

  • Daniar Usenov, then leader of the El-Bei Bechora (The Kyrgyz People's Party), was given a two-year suspended sentence on a four-year-old assault charge in which the plaintiff had withdrawn his original complaint;
  • Topchubek Turgunaliev, founder of Kyrgyzstan's Guild of Prisoners of Conscience, was sentenced to sixteen years of imprisonment on trumped-up charges of plotting an attempt on President Akaev's life (he was subsequently pardoned in 2001); and
  • Feliks Kulov, a former minister of national security, was sentenced to seven years of imprisonment on politically motivated charges of abuse of office. As of this writing, Kulov remains in prison

Akaev was victorious with 74 percent of the vote, according to the official tally. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which sent monitors to the vote, declared that the election "failed to comply with OSCE commitments for democratic elections." Specifically, the report cited the exclusion of prominent candidates, the language testing, interference in the electoral process by local and regional authorities, and an "overt" media bias favoring the incumbent.

U.S. Government Reaction to the Elections

"Askar Akaev, by falsifying elections and repressing freedom of expression, has made normal politics impossible in Kyrgyzstan."

--U.S. Congressman Christopher H. Smith (R-NJ). Congressional Record, March 22, 2002.

"In our view, the overall conduct of these elections denied the people of Kyrgyzstan the right to exercise their vote in a free and fair political contest…. [Certain candidates] were excluded from the campaign for what appear to be political reasons."

-- U.S. Department of State, Office of the Spokesman, Press Statement, November 2, 2000.

"President Askar Akayev dominates the Government. Both presidential and parliamentary elections were held during the year, and both were marred by serious irregularities... [The presidential election] did not follow international standards for equal, free, fair, and accountable elections."

-- United States Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2000, February 2001.

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