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Kyrgyzstan approves parliamentary constitution

Kyrgyzstan's referendum has passed, following Sunday's vote. With a new government, will tensions ease and ethnic violence cease?

Joel Griffith of Slavic Gospel Association shared the implications of the new constitution: "This referendum did indeed pass in Kyrgyzstan. They've approved the new constitution. It sets the stage for the first parliamentary democracy in Central Asia. Voters backed the new constitution by about 90.6 percent," reports MNN.

Since Kyrgyzstan's former president, Kurmanbek Bakiev, was ousted in April, the interim government fervently pushed for the referendum vote and October elections, despite ethnic violence flare-ups during the month of June.

Authorities blamed Bakiev, who is now exiled in Belarus, for initiating the conflicts that led to bloodshed, according to AFP. Griffith said as many as 2,000 Uzbeks were killed in the clashes, by unofficial estimates, and thousands more injured. SGA said up to 800,000 Uzbeks have fled the region.

Around 69 percent of Kyrgyzstan turned out to vote, though witnesses say Uzbek did not show up to vote.

With such a high turnout and so many in favor of the new government, Griffith said he hopes this will lessen violence, though he knows there are still many in the country who support the former president.

Griffith said in other countries plagued with ethnic violence, peace and stability did not come immediately, if at all, with changes in government.

So SGA is looking to the church in Kyrgyzstan to offer that peace and stability in the person of Jesus Christ. Through the recent conflicts, Christians have distributed humanitarian aid: "The churches have been trying to do what they can, rendering aid to some of the ethnic Uzbek refugees. They've purchased about ten tons of groceries and sent that to a church in Jalal-Abad," Griffith said. They also sent a second package to the southern city of Osh, where much of the ethnic violence was concentrated.

As SGA distributes aid, they are shining the hope of Christ. "The churches do their best to rise above the politics; they're interested in proclaiming the Gospel. They're interested in proclaiming peace and reconciliation in Christ. And as they distribute the humanitarian aid, they're interested in distributing that aid to whoever needs it," Griffith said.

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TAGS: Kyrgyzstan parliamentary constitution ethnic violence Slavic Gospel Association referendum Kurmanbek Bakiev

[06/29/2010]

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