By empty (4/19/2002 issue of the CACI Analyst)

On 18 April, the final day of the People's Congress that brought some 500 opposition activists together in Bishkek to discuss last month's clashes in southern Kyrgyzstan's Aksy Raion, the organizing committee issued a list of political demands adopted by the delegates, RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau reported. The first of 12 points called for the resignations of President Askar Akaev, the prime minister, interior minister, the prosecutor-general, and others. Further demands included an end to the trials against former Vice President Feliks Kulov and Deputy Azimbek Beknazarov, early elections, and a referendum of border issues.

By empty (4/19/2002 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Following the recent registration of the Russian Party of Kazakhstan (RPK) as a legal entity, a group of deputies from the Mazhlis led by Ramazan Sarpekov started pushing for changes in the law on political organizations to make it harder to launch new parties. The current law requires the signature of 3,000 citizens for a party to be registered. Sarpekov argued for a dramatically larger figure to reflect the fact that any serious party should be representing at least 10 percent of the electorate.

By empty (4/18/2002 issue of the CACI Analyst)

In a published interview on 18 April, Georgian Parliamentary Speaker Nino Burdjanadze stated that it was a mistake for Georgia to deny the presence of Chechen rebels in its country. The speaker added that "an objective picture" of the presence of Chechen rebels should have been provided and she promised that "I stand for being totally open about the existing problems." The Georgian government had long denied Russian claims that Chechen rebels were using Georgian territory as an operational refuge for cross-border attacks on Russian troops in Chechnya.