Kyrgystan shares Independence Day date with Malaysia

Kushtarbek Shamshidov presents two books to International News Service
Executive Editor Ahmad Fuad Yahya for Bernama library. Present was
 International News Service Editor R.Ravichandran

By Samantha Tan Chiew Tieng

On Aug 31, post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan will be one of three countries celebrating Independence Day. The other two are Malaysia and Trinidad and Tobago.

On Aug 31, 1991, the Central Asian country, known also as the ‘Land of the Nomads’ became an independent nation after the break up of the Soviet Union, while Malaysia gained independence from the United Kingdom on Aug 31, 1957.

Trinidad and Tobago, also known as the ‘Land of the Humming Bird’ gained independence from Great Britain in 1962.

This year, Malaysians, for the first time will celebrate their 61st National Day with a new government under the Pakatan Harapan coalition, following Barisan Nasional's defeat in the 14th General Election, a major transformation in the political landscape of the country after 61 years.

Kyrgyzstan, after declaring independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, went through turbulent times with political conflicts erupting into violent revolutions in 2005 and 2010. For now, the country is more stable politically and economically amidst its democratic achievements, especially shifting to a parliamentary system in 2010 from a semi-presidential.

Sharing Kyrgyzstan's independence journey, its Charge d'Affaires in Malaysia, Kushtarbek Shamshidov recalled his country’s struggles with political instability after 1991.

It was unlike Malaysia, which was lucky to have a peaceful transition of power, he noted.

"Kyrgyzstan had two major changes of power and luckily since 2010, we made very good improvement in our political system. The last parliamentary and presidential elections were held peacefully and recognised by international organisations as transparent and fair," he told Bernama in an interview at  Wisma Bernama today.

Shamshidov said after independence, the landlocked republic of some six million people made significant progress, especially in strengthening the nation's sovereignty and improving the living standards of its people.

Another major achievement, he pointed out, was the successful transition to a parliamentary system of government to provide more transparent and democratic elections. He said the last parliamentary and presidential elections were held using the biometric registration system for voting.

"(Previously) We had used the electronic system of voting, using biometric. After the election, the losing parties and candidates fully accepted the election results. The previous instability was connected to the election system and we are now proud that we had made a significant improvement in our election system," he added.

Besides that, Shamshidov said the Kyrgyz Republic also made good progress in terms of strengthening inter-ethnic relations, with representatives from the ethnic minority in the branch of government.

The Kyrgyz form the largest ethnic group comprising about 70 per cent, while other ethnic groups include Uzbeks (about 14.5 per cent) and Russians (about nine per cent).