… of the tiny former Soviet nation of Kyrgyzstan. The people got pretty pissed off about having President Akayev running the country, since he was a dictator that swiped control of the nation after the Kremlin fell and ruled it with an iron fist, using the citizenry as his own personal piggy bank. What amounts to a bloodless coup took place; Akayev skee-daddled out of there to Kazakhstan and the country held free elections.
Fast forward about a year … and it turns out the new government is pretty corrupt! (I know, corruption from a Third World government — shocker!) Therefore, there was a large march in the capital of Bishkek today, screaming “Down with thieves!” in the middle of a rainstorm, actually prompting the president to address the crowd. No violence, but the point was certainly registered on the government that they had better fix things before the citizenry decides that it’s time for another revolution.
Props to them. Hell, people in this country won’t even vote in presidential elections if it’s raining, let alone hold an impromptu anti-government rally large enough to get the head of state’s attention. When a country that’s had democracy for less than a year understands the principle of “consent of the governed” better than us, the United States has a problem.
