KYRGYZSTAN ONE YEAR ON
The revolution was made by the poorest people from the countryside. The middle classes were passive and provided only moral support.
It began in the south with the storming of the governor's offices in Jalalabad and Osh. My office was on the first floor of the Osh Oblast administration building so I observed the action unfold.
We expected corruption to be reduced and that new jobs would be created and not dispensed on the basis of family connections.
Few changes
But almost nothing has changed. The living conditions for the majority of the people are the same as before the revolution. We've lost economic and political stability.
Now most of the youth able to work leave Kyrgyzstan, in order to work and earn their living in Russia and Kazakhstan.
One of the main watchwords of the revolution was the struggle against corruption. Many say corruption is on the rise. Criminal groups officially run for power and operate through political structures.
Only representatives of regional and political clans got dividends from the revolution: they could improve their economic and political positions.
We need to attract foreign investment because we have no internal resources. Without foreign investment we can't develop our economy and improve the living conditions of our people.
I hope that revolution will prove to be worth it. Its most important legacy is that it showed that one person cannot presume to be president forever.
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