Ata-Zhurt head Akhmatbek Keldibekov elected Kyrgyz speaker

BISHKEK, December 17 (Itar-Tass) - Leader of the Ata-Zhurt faction has
been elected speaker of the parliament of Kyrgyzstan.
He was elected by a secret ballot. A total 116 lawmakers took part in
the voting; 101 of them voted for Keldibekov, 14 - against and one ballot
was spoiled.
The election of the speaker of the Kyrgyz parliament became possible
after the Respublika Party, led by Omurbek Babanov, on behalf of President
of Kyrgyzstan Roza Otunbayeva managed to form a majority coalition,
comprising also the Social Democratic Party and Ata-Zhurt.
According to an agreement between these political forces, the deputies
would be offered to elect Akhmatbek Keldibekov of Ata-Zhurt as the
parliament speaker, leader of the Social Democrats Almazbek Atambayev - as
prime minister and Omurbek Babanov - as first deputy prime minister.
The factions of Ar-Namys (Dignity) and Ata Meken (Homeland) did not
enter the coalition.
The leader of Ar-Namys, Felix Kulov, did not rule that he would head
the opposition in parliament, stressing that he would not enter it "for
the sake of the post." "The coalition is needed first of all for the
efficient work of parliament and a strong government. I do not exclude
that our group can stay in opposition. But it is necessary to specify the
status of the opposition flank in the coalition agreement, and, most
importantly, to determine the authority of the opposition minority
leader," said Kulov.
Akhmatbek Keldibekovich Akhmatbekov, 44, graduated from the Voronezh
Polytechnic Institute and the Institute for Re-education and Advanced
Training at Kyrgyz State National University, specialising in finance and
credit. He underwent training skills improvement in the United States, in
the Philippines and Saudi Arabia. In 1993-2002 he worked in the Ministry
of Finance, rising from chief specialist to deputy minister. From June
2002 to January 2005 - he was chairman of the Social Fund of Kyrgyzstan.
Since March 2005 - member of parliament. From October 2008 to April 2010,
he served as chairman of the State Committee for Taxes and Levies and head
of the Tax Service under the government of Kyrgyzstan.
In early 2007, he became one of the organisers and chairman of the
Executive Committee of the Ata Zhurt party, then - co-chairman of the
party. In August 2010, he was nominated as candidate No 3 on the Ata-Zhurt
party list at the country's parliamentary elections.
An early parliamentary election was held in Kyrgyzstan on 10 October
2010. All 120 seats of the Jogorku Kenesh were elected by using a party
list system. Seats were allocated to all parties who obtained more than 5
percent of the vote and more than 0.5 percent in each of the nine
provinces, capped at 65 seats per party. Ata-Zhurt won a plurality of
seats, while the ruling interim government's party finished second, and
the pro-Russian Ar-Namys came in third.
Over 3,000 candidates from 29 political parties competed for the 120
seats, the result was hard to predict. Leaflets distributed in the south
of the country urged people "not to tolerate" parties led by northerners,
in a sign of remaining tensions following the 2010 South Kyrgyzstan riots.
Ar-Namys opposed the new found parliamentary system and said it would
restore the older system of presidential rule. Ata-Zhurt campaigned for
the return of Bakiyev from his exile in Belarus, and also advocated a
return to presidential rule.
Roza Otunbayeva vowed to uphold a "spirit of fairness and
transparency." She also talked of the importance of the election: "These
elections are of fateful importance for our people and state. We are not
just electing a parliament but starting a new system and opening a new
page in our history." Following the election, SDPK, Respublika and
Ata-Meken agreed on a coalition in late November. However, as soon as the
coalition was officially agreed to on December 2, it collapsed when it
failed to elect a speaker of parliament (with only 58 of the 67 coalition
MPs voting for the designated speaker in a secret vote). On 15 December,
Respublika announced it had successfully negotiated the creation of a
coalition government with SDPK and Ata-Zhurt. SDPK's Almazbek Atambayev
would become prime minister, Ata-Zhurt's Akhmatbek Keldibekov would be
speaker of parliament and Respublika's Omurbek Babanov would then become
deputy prime minister.
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