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Six months have handed since Kyrgyzstan’s former President Almazbek Atambayev decamped for Spain, and it was only some weeks in the past that there was any glimpse of him.
On August 5, Temirlan Sultanbekov – an Atambayev loyalist and head of the Social Democrats, one of many offshoots of Atambayev’s social gathering – posted a photograph of himself with Atambayev, Atambayev’s spouse and son, and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. Sultanbekov’s put up was not an replace on the previous president per se, however to congratulate Sanchez on his social gathering’s success in current elections.
Atambayev traveled to Spain on February 15 to get medical therapy for a herniated disc and unspecified coronary heart points. Simply two days prior, he had been serving an 11-year jail sentence for releasing against the law boss from jail with a false most cancers prognosis. After Kyrgyzstan’s Supreme Court docket overturned Atambayev’s sentence, the Spanish prime minister despatched a letter to present Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov, providing a “humanitarian invitation” for “comrade Atambayev.”
The lifted sentence doesn’t totally wipe Atambayev’s authorized slate clear. He’s on trial for costs of homicide, tried homicide, threatening official representatives, hostage taking, and the forcible seizure of energy throughout violent clashes in August 2019 at his residence close to Bishkek. Greater than 170 individuals had been injured and one safety officer was killed within the standoff at Koi-Tash, his residential compound.
The clashes at Koi-Tash solely exacerbated a rift in Atambayev’s social gathering, the Social Democratic Celebration of Kyrgyzstan (SDPK). A few yr after Koi-Tash, the SDPK cut up in two. Allies of then-President Sooronbai Jeenbekov flocked to the Birimdik social gathering, which re-registered in September 2019, whereas Temirlan Sultanbekov – who had joined the SDPK at 18 – established the Social Democrats. Additionally excessive up on the social gathering roster was Atambayev’s youngest son, Kadyrbek.
The Social Democrats didn’t handle to cross the 7 % quota within the October 2020 parliamentary elections, nor within the follow-up elections in November 2021. (Although one Social Democrat – Seidbek Atambayev, Kadyrbek’s older brother – received a spot in parliament in a single seat district.) Nonetheless, the Social Democrats have discovered relative success in native politics. They secured spots in metropolis councils of seven cities, together with Bishkek, and 685 social gathering members had been elected deputies in village councils, primarily in Chui, Naryn, and Issyk-Kul areas.
Whereas the Social Democrats are usually not as influential in Kyrgyz nationwide politics because the SDPK was, the social gathering has actively pursued worldwide partnerships. In July 2023, the Social Democrats turned a member of the Progressive Alliance, a community of social democratic political events with some 140 members worldwide. In August, Sultanbekov visited Mongolia to attend a gathering of the Worldwide Convention on Asian Celebration Politics (ICAPP). Whereas in Ulaanbaatar, he met with the speaker of parliament and different authorities officers about strengthening cooperation between the 2 international locations.
The Social Democrats don’t simply make jaunts overseas for casual diplomacy; they’ve additionally facilitated visits to Kyrgyzstan. On August 1, Bishkek billboards greeted a member of Madrid’s metropolis meeting, Hana Jalloul, in Kyrgyz and Spanish. The journey marked the primary worldwide go to for Jalloul, who leads overseas coverage for the Spanish Socialist Employees’ Celebration. “It’s a nice honor for us!” Sultanbekov wrote on Fb concerning the go to. “The friendship between us will solely develop stronger and stronger!”
This relationship between Kyrgyzstan’s Social Democrats and Spain’s Socialist Employees’ Celebration is important in opposition to the backdrop of European consideration to Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan and different Central Asian states are usually not lined within the European Neighborhood Coverage, which provides favorable entry to assist in growth and safety. However the EU is the biggest support donor to Central Asia and has promoted regional cooperation, and diplomatic efforts and monetary assist have ramped up since Russia escalated its battle in Ukraine.
Kyrgyzstan hosted the primary European Union-Central Asia Financial Discussion board in November 2021, and Japarov welcomed the president of the European Council, Charles Michel, to Cholpon Ata in June 2023 for one more summit. These boards have supplied area for Central Asian leaders to debate concrete steps to deepen cooperation.
However Sultanbekov and the Social Democrats present that there’s one other path for diplomatic growth.
What’s particularly fascinating is that Sultanbekov has not framed his maverick relationship-building as a problem to Japarov. Sultanbekov strongly criticized Japarov following his rise to energy and in the course of the Kempir-Abad scandal. However his tone has modified since Japarov intervened on behalf of Atambayev in February.
Spain stepped into its six-month EU presidency on July 1, 2023, and the Social Democrats’ relationship-building efforts mixed with Japarov’s formal diplomatic engagement might safe Spain’s consideration on Central Asia.
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