Local government in Kyrghyzstan
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1002/pad.4230150505 |
| Date | 01 November 2006 |
| Published date | 01 November 2006 |
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
AND
DEVELOPMENT, VOL. 15,49>505 (1995)
Local
government
in
Kyrghyzstan
WILLIAM TORDOFF
University
of
Manchester
SUMMARY
The Kyrghyzstan government is making the difficult transition from a command economy
under Communist Party control to
a
market economy within a pluralist political framework.
For the time being, however, the reality of firm executive, hierarchical control persists. An
Akim heads the government structure at provincial
(oblust
)
and district
(ruion)
levels and
exercises considerable power; though formally answerable for his budget and socio-economic
programme to the local parliament
(kenesh),
his accountability is virtually nil. Some attention
is given to equalizing revenue among the provinces: Bishkek, the capital city, which has oblast
status, and Chui oblast provide substantial financial underpinning for the rest of the country.
In April 1995 the government accepted the main provisions
of
the EIPA Report prepared
under the European Union’s TACIS project ED/052, the effect of which should be to enhance
the government’s ability
to
promote development. President Akayev
sees
local administration,
local self-government and privatization as important levers of reform.
DECENTRALIZATION
Decentralization is often used as
a
blanket term to cover what are usually two
complementary processes: the deconcentration of administrative authority, whereby
the central government delegates power to its own field officers, and political
devolution, an arrangement whereby certain powers are conferred on representative
bodies
at
provincial and/or district level, each with its own separate legal existence
and its
own
budget, and with the authority to allocate resources and to carry out
multiple functions. On
a
strict interpretation, the term decentralization refers to the
latter process-political devolution. This is substantially absent in Kyrghyzstan,
where administrative authority is exercised on behalf of the central government by
the
Akims.
Though an elected local council or ‘kenesh’ exists
at
both oblast and
raion levels, it exercises little check on the Akim’s power. The present system is
therefore characterized by administrative decentralization rather than political
devolution. This is not surprising since it was only at independence in August
1991
that the country emerged from
70
years of highly centralized Communist Party rule.
Dr William Tordoff is Emeritus Professor of Government, University
of
Manchester, Manchester, M13
9PL, UK.
Note.
This article draws upon
my
experience
as
consultant in 1994-95
for
the European Union-EIPA/
RIPA International TACIS Project ED/052:
Civil Service Reform and
Training
in the Republic
of
Kyrghyzstan.
It
reflects my personal views and not those
of
the European Union, the Government
of
the
Republic
of
Kyrghyzstan, EIPA or RIPA International.
CCC 0271-2075/95/050495-11
0
1995
by
John Wiley
&
Sons, Ltd.
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