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Kyrgyz parliament adopts new Constitution

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The Kyrgyz parliament has passed a new Constitution expanding presidential powers, a RIA Novosti correspondent reported Saturday.
BISHKEK, December 30 (RIA Novosti) - The Kyrgyz parliament has passed a new Constitution expanding presidential powers, a RIA Novosti correspondent reported Saturday.

A new draft of the Constitution was introduced last week after the Kyrgyz government resigned en bloc in protest against a previous draft that weakened presidential powers.

Under the new Constitution, the president will regain control over all power structures, the right to appoint governors and establish a new presidential staff.

The new Constitution is based on a compromise reached by opposition and pro-government lawmakers.

Deputy Speaker Erkin Alymbekov said earlier that the new draft contained some 10 amendments giving the Kyrgyz president more powers than he had before the "tulip revolution" of March 2005.

The revolution ousted the country's first president, Askar Akayev, and brought to power the incumbent leader, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, but his rule has been marred by economic problems, high-profile murders, prison riots and disputes over the control of lucrative businesses.

Both Russia and the United States are closely monitoring developments in the impoverished ex-Soviet republic as the former maintains an airbase in Kant, about 20 miles west of the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, and the latter leases the Manas airbase, which is the only U.S. base in post-Soviet Central Asia since Uzbekistan evicted American troops from its territory last year.

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