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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BISHKEK 001644 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR SCA/PPD AND SCA/CEN 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KPAO KG
SUBJECT: Off the Record, Journalists Predict Political Games to 
Continue Into Spring 
 
BISHKEK 00001644  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED.  NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION 
 
Ref: Bishkek 1643 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: In an off the record session with four of the most 
well-connected journalists in Bishkek, the Ambassador had a 
wide-ranging discussion on the state of post-protest Kyrgyzstan. 
The general opinion was that while the new constitution had provided 
both sides a face-saving compromise, the actual implementation of 
the document will lead to even more conflicts.  The future status of 
state-owned television channel KTR will continue to be a difficult 
issue.  The outcome of the protests and the restructuring of the 
checks and balances in the new constitution have politicians 
attempting to reconsolidate their power.  Neither governmental nor 
independent media provided balanced and unbiased reporting about the 
protests said the journalists.  End summary. 
 
------------ 
CONSTITUTION 
------------ 
 
¶2. (SBU) On Wednesday, November 15, the Ambassador met with four 
journalists: Dinara Suymalieva of Internews, Andrey Tsvetkov of NTS 
TV, Marat Tokoev of the Journalists Public Association, and Anton 
Lymar of 24.kg.  The journalists said that opposition politicians 
were not happy with the current rules of the political and economic 
games.  The new constitution moved Kyrgyzstan away from the brink of 
a catastrophe, but political battles will continue into spring 2007, 
especially over the contradictions in the document and its 
implementation.  The journalists described this as a very raw and 
very contradictory constitution, and they seemed remarkably sanguine 
that exactly a week after being signed, a final version has not yet 
been published. 
 
¶3. (SBU) The journalists blamed President Bakiev for the way 
constitution was passed.  They said that reforms had dragged on for 
a year and a half because he realized that the 2003 constitution was 
beneficial for his personal authority.  They claimed that he was the 
main person blocking reforms.  They claimed that the fact that 
Bakiyev wants to maximize the benefits to himself under the old 
constitution before fully implementing the new constitution is 
another problem. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Since no one has seen the final version of the 
constitution, the deputies themselves do not know what their rights 
and powers are.  Some of the journalists said that Deputies had been 
coming to them looking for final copies of the constitution. 
 
-------- 
STATE TV 
-------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) The journalists said that reforming the state television 
channel KTR into a public broadcaster should continue to be the 
priority.  Although President Bakiev vetoed the bill on reforms of 
the state TV, they were convinced the Parliament has enough votes 
(2/3 of 75) to overcome the veto or initiate a new and separate 
bill.  According to the new constitution, KTR should now move under 
the control of the Prime Minister Felix Kulov, not the President. 
The journalists acknowledged that the bureaucratic shuffling of who 
controlled KTR was largely meaningless in addressing the larger 
problems in the Kyrgyz media environment since they did not believe 
the Prime Minister would take full advantage of his new authority 
and would defer to the President's wishes.  The journalists said 
that the one-sided news coverage by KTR exacerbated already existing 
North-South divisions and increased tensions during the protests 
rather than calming them, because Northerners saw different (and 
broader) news coverage which the South did not have access to.  One 
commented that a public television station broadcasting unbiased 
information would have helped deescalate the situation. 
 
----------- 
OTHER MEDIA 
----------- 
 
BISHKEK 00001644  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶6. (SBU) All the journalists agreed that the coverage of the 
protests by other media was either censored (Pyramida TV and NTS 
were periodically cut off the air by "technical" issues, websites 
faced hacker attacks) or biased in favor of one side.  One of the 
participants described how her television talk show had not been 
aired by NTS, a station owned by one of the opposition leaders, 
because the leader wanted only one-sided coverage.  Another 
participant supported her saying that the owner of the station was 
personally directing the broadcast policy of the station during the 
crisis. 
 
------------- 
WHAT IS NEXT? 
------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) The journalists believed that although the clash was 
between the President and the Parliament, it was the Prime Minister 
who emerged as the winner.  Another byproduct of the protests was 
that political forces now realized that it is not always profitable 
to be the president.  They theorized that some politicians would be 
taking a break till the 2010 elections.  Some others are forging 
alliances with each other, leading to divisions forming within the 
Za Reformi movement.  Others are already starting political parties 
to take advantage of the new proportional representation clauses in 
the new Constitution.  Finally, they believe that Felix Kulov now 
understands that he has lost his followers among the opposition and 
sees Bakiyev as his only political ally. 
 
¶8. (SBU) The journalists ended by commenting that it is a very bad 
precedent to change the Constitution with "street democracy."  They 
see two large questions looming.  First, how will the constitution 
be amended to remove contradictions unresolved during drafting: will 
it be in the Parliament or again on the streets.  Second, the 
Parliament now has to consolidate its powers (comment: and determine 
exactly what those powers are) and show the President that it can 
appoint the Prime Minister and the cabinet. 
 
Yovanovitch