In Bishkek, activists staged a rally twice in five days against MP Shailoobek Atazov.
On June 10, three townspeople, residents of Sverdlovsk district of the capital, where Shailoobek Atazov ran for Parliament, took part in the action. They went to the Parliament building demanding that he resigns as a deputy. Voters were outraged by his sexist, discriminatory statements from a high rostrum.
Such a reaction on the part of the activists was caused by the initiative of the deputy, voiced at the Parliament session on June 9. Then Atazov made a proposal that Kyrgyz women aged 18-20 leave the country only accompanied by their parents or husband. Thus, as the deputy stated, the problem with migration in the country can be solved.
“Our migrants have a lot of problems. Will 18-20-year-old girls be allowed to go abroad with their parents? Or maybe they will leave after marriage? Or let those who work in the field of migration come and provide information to the Committee. It’s good if we consider the laws regarding this,” Atazov said.
Atazov’s proposal caused a strong reaction in society. He was heavily criticized on social network. Experts called the deputy’s initiative discriminatory.
“This proposal restricts the constitutional rights of citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic to freedom of movement, the right to freely travel outside the Kyrgyz Republic,” said lawyer Arsen Ambaryan.
On June 15, another protest against Shailoobek Atazov was organized near the Parliament building. Activists came to this rally with posters on which it was written: “Atazov, hands off the rights of girls!”, “We are not your rating”, “Free girl – free country!” and others.
As a result of the action, a resolution was announced, which states that women and men in Kyrgyzstan have equal rights, and no one should discriminate against women.
“It’s necessary to develop an internal regulation against the statements of deputies that violate rights and discriminate against a person. Rules should be up to the deprivation of deputies’ mandate. We call on women deputies to become the voice of all women in Kyrgyzstan and oppose the bills of men that discriminate against women,” the protesters suggested.
When Shailoobek Atazov came out to the protesters, the protesters shouted slogans: “Atazov, surrender your mandate” and “Leave!”.
In addition, participants in the rally for women’s rights and against discrimination appealed to President Sadyr Japarov and first lady Aigul Japarova.
In their appeal, they expressed concern about the initiatives of some MPs.
“The proposal of the deputy contradicts the current Constitution, which states that a citizen of the Kyrgyz Republic has the right to freely travel outside the republic and return without hindrance. On what basis does the MP propose such initiatives? Why can a parliamentarian afford such baseless, absurd proposals that humiliate Kyrgyz women? With such statements, Atazov demonstrates his absolute ignorance of human rights and complete disrespect for women. This calls into question his ability to hold the post of a member of Parliament,” the text says.
The authors of the letter also addressed the President’s wife, Aigul Japarova, stating that they are sure that she understands and shares the indignation with the statements of Shailoobek Atazov.
The protesters expressed the opinion that the personal intervention of the head of state and the first lady of the country is necessary in order to reverse such trends.
It should be noted that today Kyrgyz voters don’t have the right to revoke a deputy’s mandate by collecting signatures, since in the republic, after the change in the Constitution, the corresponding amendments to the law “On the status of a deputy” and the regulations of the Parliament were not made.
As the former chairman of the constitutional conference, Bekbosun Borubashov, told reporters, when the draft Constitution was being developed, they wanted to indicate: MP’s mandate is revoked if voters collect 10,000 signatures, or a referendum should be held in the district so that residents vote for or against. However, as a result, the revocation of the mandate was never written into the Constitution, since ‘it’s impossible to take into account all the nuances’.
Previously, there was a rule on the recall of a deputy’s mandate, but it was abandoned precisely because it didn’t work. According to experts, for all the years of this rule, not one of the parliamentarians has been deprived of their powers.
