VZCZCXRO6219
OO RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHDBU RUEHLH RUEHNEH RUEHPW
DE RUEHEK #0888/01 2181134
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 061134Z AUG 09
FM AMEMBASSY BISHKEK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2547
INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 3210
RUEKJCS/OSD WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 1500
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO BRUSSELS BE
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 3553
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 2939
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORP
RUMICEA/USCENTCOM INTEL CEN MACDILL AFB FL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BISHKEK 000888 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR SCA/CEN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/30/2019 
TAGS: PINT PGOV KG
SUBJECT: KYRGYZSTAN: ABUSE OF ADMINISTRATIVE RESOURCES IN 
PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN, PART I 
 
BISHKEK 00000888  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
Classified By: Classified By: Ambassador Tatiana Gfoeller, Reasons 1.4 
(b) and (d). 
 
¶1. (C) SUMMARY:  In the run-up to the 2009 Presidential 
elections, the government of Kyrgyzstan used all its 
administrative resources to support President Bakiyev,s 
campaign.  The government leveraged its access to huge 
funding, thousands of state employees, a potent media 
machine, and wide-ranging facilities to promote the campaign 
of the President and ensure his victory.  In the end, 
Bakiyev,s use of state resources gave him an advantage in 
the election that the opposition was unable to overcome. 
This is Part I of two cables analyzing the run-up to the July 
2009 Presidential Election.  Part II, focusing on the 
pressure to vote on election day, will follow septel.  END 
SUMMARY 
 
PROMOTE THE PRESIDENT, OR ELSE! 
------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (C) The President's re-election campaign was the central 
preoccupation for many government officials this year.  The 
Director of the State Agency on Sports and Youth Aleksandr 
Voinov told EmbOff that "all ministers were instructed by the 
White House to be as active and high profile as possible in 
promoting the government before the election."  Voinov, for 
his part, organized many sporting events around the country 
using government resources.  These events, such as the 
"President's Cup" for kickboxing, featured large posters of 
the President and banners with slogans like: "Bakiyev is for 
sports. Sports are for Bakiyev."  The Ministry of Education 
coordinated the timing of new school openings for Bakiyev to 
attend in his campaign travels. 
 
¶3. (C) The Ministry of Culture put on free concerts where the 
President was praised by both government officials and 
entertainers.  Some performers claim to have been paid in 
some cases, while others were promised different benefits or 
simply threatened to perform.  One singer told EmbOff that 
she was approached jointly by the Bakiyev campaign and the 
Ministry of Culture and asked to perform for the campaign. 
In return, she was promised government honors, along with 
better access to government facilities and media coverage in 
the future.  She was told that her ability to perform at the 
major government-controlled concert halls would be restricted 
if she performed for the opposition. 
 
¶4. (C) Media coverage in government-owned or controlled 
outlets, particularly on television, also focused on the 
President's campaign and portrayed him in a positive light. 
A reporter for the government-controlled Channel 5 said the 
station's leadership was warned by Oksana Malevannaya, the 
Chief of the Presidential Secretariat, that the channel's 
license would be revoked if the elections did not go well for 
Bakiyev.  Scripts for the nightly news were sent directly 
from the White House to be read without changes on air.  The 
White House also instructed Channel 5 to pool reporters and 
editors with two other supposedly independent TV stations to 
ensure there was a unified message on the news during the 
elections.  Reporters were also ordered to give random people 
200 soms (approximately USD 5) to appear on camera and say 
that they were voting for Bakiyev or were disappointed in the 
opposition. 
 
¶5. (C) Tynai Ibragimov, the artistic director of the main, 
government-run KTR television channel, told EmbOff that he 
was hired to make Bakiyev look better on the news and the 
opposition candidates worse.  He said that he was called 
"absolutely every day" by the White House Presidential 
Secretariat with feedback of how the President was shown on 
the news.  For example, Bakiyev should only be filmed from 
the front, but opposition leaders should be shown often from 
the back.  Ibragimov said the White House organized televised 
 
BISHKEK 00000888  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
Kyrgyz language tests and debates for the President to appear 
by himself or with one other candidate so his declining 
health could not be compared to others.   Ibragimov was 
ordered to cut the live feed if any opposition candidate 
criticized Bakiyev too much. 
 
¶6. (C) University and school officials are traditionally 
leaned on to support incumbent officials, but reported that 
the pressure was especially heavy this year.  President 
Bakiyev signed an order transferring responsibility for the 
appointment of university rectors from faculty vote to 
himself.  Three rectors confirmed that this makes them 
accountable for the political needs of the President.  The 
rector of one large university said that he was called 
regularly by Daniyar Usenov, the chief of the Presidential 
Administration, with instructions on how to promote the 
Presidential campaign and even specific names of faculty 
members to fire who have not been supportive enough. 
 
¶7. (C) A variety of other groups and instruments were 
exploited to support the campaign.  The government raised 
pensions and salaries for its employees.  It repainted many 
roads, and opened new squares and parks.  Bishkek city mayor 
Nariman Tuleyev was particularly active in recent weeks, and 
even sent a letter to Bishkek residents giving credit for the 
new roads and parks to Bakiyev.  Store and restaurant owners 
complained on Internet blogs of being forced to hang Bakiyev 
signs on their windows by campaign workers with the threat of 
police and tax inspection visits if they refused. 
 
¶8. (C) An official from Gazprom Neft, which has a dominant 
share of the gasoline market in Kyrgyzstan, told EmbOff that 
his company agreed with the White House to keep prices 
artificially low until the election, at which point Gazprom 
could raise them to recoup their losses and more.  Opposition 
candidates also complained of limited access to advertising 
in the media and on billboards, while commercial billboards 
and public spaces were blanketed with Bakiyev signs. 
 GFOELLER