Jedburgh
08-15-2008, 07:56 PM
ICG, 14 Aug 08: Kyrgyzstan: A Deceptive Calm (http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/country,,,COUNTRYREP,KGZ,,48a52e702,0.html)
.....Anecdotal reports suggest deep popular disillusionment with the Bakiyev administration after the elections. At this point, however, the dissatisfaction is expressed mostly in resigned disgust with the system rather than overt anger or hostility. This could change. Food prices are rising faster than expected, as is inflation, even by the state’s cautious and not always reliable estimate. Few officials or ordinary citizens expect that – barring an unusually mild winter – energy cuts will be limited to unheated homes. A further deterioration in living conditions could spark serious anger among a public already worn down by power cuts, the steady rise of fuel prices and the memory of the previous grim winter, when the country’s fragile power infrastructure was incapable of supplying a basic level of services. If anger turns to violence, it risks being brutal, destructive and xenophobic – and the remnants of the opposition may not be able to channel demonstrations into a more controllable form.....
.....Anecdotal reports suggest deep popular disillusionment with the Bakiyev administration after the elections. At this point, however, the dissatisfaction is expressed mostly in resigned disgust with the system rather than overt anger or hostility. This could change. Food prices are rising faster than expected, as is inflation, even by the state’s cautious and not always reliable estimate. Few officials or ordinary citizens expect that – barring an unusually mild winter – energy cuts will be limited to unheated homes. A further deterioration in living conditions could spark serious anger among a public already worn down by power cuts, the steady rise of fuel prices and the memory of the previous grim winter, when the country’s fragile power infrastructure was incapable of supplying a basic level of services. If anger turns to violence, it risks being brutal, destructive and xenophobic – and the remnants of the opposition may not be able to channel demonstrations into a more controllable form.....