Sooronbai Jeenbekov took up the post of president on November 24, 2017. What has the head of state done for six months?
Visits to neighbors
The first three months the president devoted to building relations with the neighbors. Sooronbai Jeenbekov paid his first visit as president to Moscow, and then to Minsk, where the important talks with the head of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, took place. The conflict on the Kyrgyz-Kazakh border was completely resolved, the parties came to a mutual decision.
Sooronbai Jeenbekov paid his first official visit to Uzbekistan.
Relations between Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan finally improved after the invitation of Nursultan Nazarbayev. Sooronbai Jeenbekov willingly accepted it and left for Astana.
In the last days of 2017, Vladimir Putin gathered all the heads of the CIS for an informal meeting. In February, Sooronbai Jeenbekov left for Dushanbe — again, on the initiative of the inviting party.
The main topic of the talks was the delimitation of the border. Specific decisions have not yet been made, but the working groups are actively negotiating.
In April, the president entered the international level of negotiations and headed for Turkey and Belgium. The conversation with his Turkish colleague Recep Tayyip Erdogan took place in one-on-one format and lasted an hour and a half. One of the most urgent issues was the situation with the Turkish lyceums.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke harshly against FETO supporters, saying that they were preparing provocations. «Today’s visit is the best response to the actions of FETO. Turkey will continue the struggle until they are held responsible. Wherever they are, we will pull them out and put them in the hands of justice. Our task is to prevent the actions of such organizations. We spoke about this in a narrow and expanded format,» the leader of Turkey explained.
FETO tried to undermine the relations between Turkey and Kyrgyzstan.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan
He hopes that Kyrgyzstan will thoroughly engage in the fight against FETO. «We will help and support the country in this,» said Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
However, Sooronbai Jeenbekov overlooked the issue and did not react to the statements of the Turkish president.
The head of the Kyrgyz Republic was welcomed in the institutions of the European Union. The head of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker even called Kyrgyzstan a great country and admitted that he dreamed of visiting it.
Sooronbai Jeenbekov’s visit to China in the framework of the SCO meeting is ahead. The Ambassador of China Xiao Qinghua opened the veil of secrecy: it will be more than a working trip.
Criminal cases: the number of arrested is growing
Kyrgyzstan and China are to discuss the implementation of projects using loans. The investigation into the modernization of the Bishkek Heating and Power Plant induced the deputies to check other projects, implemented thanks to the support of the People’s Republic of China.
A criminal case on corruption was opened. All those, who promoted the modernization of the capital’s HPP, lobbied the interests of the investors, signed an agreement with them, are suspects. Many officials lost their seats, and some were arrested.
Sooronbai Jeenbekov announced a total fight against corruption. The public and state officials got excited after the meeting of the Security Council, at which the president criticized the activities of the State Committee for National Security, the Prosecutor General’s Office and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, noting that only one-third of the criminal cases initiated reach the court.
According to him, the State Committee for National Security has initiated 2,000 criminal cases over the past two years. Only 29 percent of them were brought to court. The court, in its turn, acquitted almost a half of those accused by the investigators of SCNS.
Unfortunately, some employees of the Corruption Control Service turned into the untouchables. It’s time to change the format of the service. It is also necessary to consider the job competence of all the staff of the Corruption Control Service.
Sooronbai Jeenbekov
It did not take too long. Director of the Corruption Control Service of SCNS Duishenbek Chotkaraev lost his post. Staff reshuffle began in the agency. It is known that more than two dozen employees lost their posts. A little later, all SCNS heads lost their seats, after which large personnel reshuffles began.
No agreement between comrades
The split between Atambayev’s associates became obvious after March congress of SDPK, where he was elected the party leader. The former president openly accused Sooronbai Jeenbekov of protecting relatives and lack of political will, saying that the president was not given a wrong text of the speech at the meeting of the Security Council. Atambayev recommended him to carefully study the texts, or he would have to publish the documents as evidence.
The situation in the Parliament was heating up. As a result, the deputies passed a no confidence motion against Sapar Isakov, depriving him of the status of ex-prime minister.
The formation of a new cabinet of ministers began. The leadership of the government has completely changed. Mukhammedkaly Abylgaziev brought with him three new vice prime ministers. The place of the first vice prime minister, which became vacant after Askarbek Shadiev resigned, is also not vacant any more.
Sooronbai Jeenbekov’s associates appeared in his environment. Ernis Toltoev became his associate. Dosaly Esenaliev was appointed the first deputy head of the Presidential Administration. The Prosecutor General of the Kyrgyz Republic was replaced — Otkubek Dzhamshitov was appointed to the post. Aibek Azyrankulov was appointed an adviser to the president. All of them, except for the last one, are the natives of Osh region, where Sooronbai Jeenbekov himself comes from.
Prolonged reform
The president took up the judicial reform also, starting with the dismissal of judges.
Sooronbai Jeenbekov is concerned about the glaring facts of the corruptness of the judges. The people tell the president about them. «70 percent of appeals concern this problem. Over the past year, a lot has been done, codes and laws have been adopted. However, the pace turned out to be below the expectations of the public,» the head of the Kyrgyz Republic said at a meeting of the Judicial Reform Council.
He added that after the expiration of the statute of limitations, the perpetrators should not escape criminal responsibility.
«Currently, according to the law, after the expiration of the statute of limitations, the case is suspended. The work of the investigative bodies is in vain. This issue requires careful consideration. The actions of the perpetrators still need to be estimated and seek compensation for damages. It is necessary to restore the people’s trust in the courts,» said Sooronbai Jeenbekov.
The previous program is executed by 90 percent. The head of the Supreme Court of Kyrgyzstan Aynash Tokbaeva assured the president. As she said, the country did not have enough money to conduct a full-scale judicial reform. We ask for help from international donors again.
The only political will, which the president, as he admitted, has, was not enough. Money is needed.
In addition, the head of Kyrgyzstan proposes to impose a moratorium on amending the Criminal Code, the Code of Offences, the Code of Violations, the Code of Criminal Procedure, and the Penitentiary Code.
The main goal of the decree is to promote the ongoing judicial and legal reform.
