The new president says he is restoring the rule of law.

Others say he threatens it

attempt
by organised crime groups to exert
influence over politics and electionsYet the man who has benefited most
from the tumult in Kyrgyzstan, Sadyr Japarov,
denies that his meteoric rise, from prison
to the presidency in ten days, has any
sinister underpinningAnd he wants to amend the constitution to
strengthen the presidency and reduce the
clout of parliament. He is
more comfortable speaking Kyrgyz than
Russian, which sets him apart from the
Russophone eliteAlthough the
mountainous country of 6m is sometimes
described as the only democracy in Central
Asia, in practice it has run through a series
of presidents whose behaviour gradually
became more autocratic until they were
turfed from office by public protests. The present
constitution was intended to guard against
strongman rule. Its architect, Omurbek Tekebayev,
an mp, says Mr Japarov’s proposals
will set Kyrgyzstan’s politics back 30
years, to their state at the time of independence
from the Soviet Union in 1991. He
has urged protesters to end their attacks on
Chinese firms. Locals must understand the
value of such investments, he says, and
keep the country open for business. His flair for populism is evident: he
has ordered the removal of the fence
around the White House, to reduce the distance
between politicians and the governed.