KYRGYZSTAN TODAY Policy briefs on - Department of Geography

Kyrgyzstan, they did not have a clear platform, social base and, consequently, support
among the population. Their work was fragmentary, since the parties were in search of
their identity.
Creation of any social institution usually takes many years. Important indicators
of the institutionalization of political parties are their popularity, image and social
base. Kyrgyzstan, unfortunately, has not yet been able to move away from the socialist
experience, where a political party was created only from above, through both voluntary
and forced membership in it. In the Soviet system, ideas and objectives of the party
were clear, and they were maintained through ongoing public activity, which created
a clear image of that institution in the minds of ordinary people. In today’s conditions
the activities of the parties in Kyrgyzstan are limited only to election campaigns, which
actually creates an image of the party as a “user.” 5 In any case, consistent and continuous
public work is prevented by a lack of internal unity and strategy. The political parties
of modern Kyrgyzstan still remain a political springboard for incoming and outgoing
leaders.
At the same time, the NGO sector in Kyrgyzstan has its problems. Although a
sustainable and credible institution, this sector still has no internal unity. According
to some informal criteria, NGOs may be divided into “capital” and “provincial”,
“politicized” and “normal”, “fragmentary” (from grant to grant) and “stable”, and
“independent” and “pro-governmental.” The ongoing disunity of NGOs will impede
a) the further development of NGOs, b) NGOs’ accountability for the role of a strong
institution of civil society and consolidation of the efforts with other institutions [18].
The question of division of activities and methods of work remains a “stumbling
block” in the relations of NGOs and political parties, and one reason for repeated attempts
by the Government “to regulate the activities of NGOs” through special orders, thus
causing public resentment of some political leaders in recent years. As mentioned above,
the weakness or absense of political parties in the country until the past two years, and
decisive actions by NGOs in critical situations during the past five years, have increased
the credibility of NGOs. However, this has also generated a contentious debate on the
“legitimacy” of NGOs intervention in “politics.” In fact, the NGO normative base in
almost all countries is still used as a tool for limiting the capacity of NGOs [25]. The Law
of KR on Non-Profit Organizations of 11/02/1999 is no exception; it contains a special
article (Chapter 1, p. 1), which clearly defines the non-political character of NGOs.
Theoretically, the mission of NGOs is to assist the Government in solving social
problems. From this perspective, NGOs cannot organize and participate in political
activities designed to take or maintain power and support for any political leader.
Actually, an NGO interested in solving social problems could influence the outcome
of political decisions, formulate and propose its own solution of a problem in the form
of an alternative bill, promote awareness and responsibility of the citizens, teach them
to assert their rights and monitor the activities of state bodies. According to this logic,
NGOs, having a formal legal status, indirectly participate in politics.
The purpose of political parties is the management of state affairs through their
representatives [4, Ch. 1, Art. 1; Ch. 2, Art. 3], which means political power. Therefore,
having the support of certain segments of the population, the political parties of
Kyrgyzstan in today’s environment have benefited from years of NGOs’ activities in
5
The parties in Kyrgyzstan become active only during elections, and their activities are limited only to
winning votes. Otherwise, the parties are passive.
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