Sooronbay Jeenbekov | |
---|---|
Сооронбай Жээнбеков | |
5th President of Kyrgyzstan | |
In office 24 November 2017 – 15 October 2020 | |
Prime Minister | Sapar Isakov Mukhammedkalyi Abylgaziev Kubatbek Boronov Sadyr Japarov |
Preceded by | Almazbek Atambayev |
Succeeded by | Sadyr Japarov (acting) |
18th Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan | |
In office 13 April 2016 – 22 August 2017 | |
President | Almazbek Atambayev |
Deputy | Cholpon Sultanbekova |
Preceded by | Temir Sariyev |
Succeeded by | Mukhammedkalyi Abylgaziev (Acting) |
Governor of Osh | |
In office 16 August 2012 – 11 December 2015 | |
Preceded by | Aytmat Kadyrbayev |
Succeeded by | Taalaybek Sarybashev |
Personal details | |
Born | Sooronbay Sharipovich Jeenbekov 16 November 1958 Biy-Myrza, Kirghiz SSR, Soviet Union (now Kyrgyzstan) |
Political party | Social Democratic |
Spouse | Aigul Tokoyeva |
Children | 2 |
Residence(s) | Ordo House, Ala Archa State Residence |
Alma mater | Kyrgyz National Agrarian University |
Sooronbay Sharip uulu Jeenbekov ([soːrɔmˈbɑj ɕɑˈrip uːˈɫʊ d͡ʒeːmˈbɛkɤf]; Kyrgyz: Сооронбай Шарип уулу Жээнбеков; born 16 November 1958) is a Kyrgyz politician who served as the 5th President of Kyrgyzstan from 2017 until his resignation in 2020, following a week of protests.[1][2] Prior to that he served as the Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan from April 2016 to August 2017.[3][4]
As president, Jeenbekov dealt with issues specifically in foreign policy and corruption in which several juridical reforms were implemented to improve public trust. In spite of that, Kyrgyzstan under Jeenbekov faced a growth of organised crime and government corruption and lack of economic development which was negatively affected upon the COVID-19 pandemic and was accused of downplaying the alleged cases of electoral fraud in the 2020 parliamentary election that resulted in the 2020 Kyrgyz Revolution and his resignation amidst political unrest over the disputed election results.[5][6][7] He was succeeded by Sadyr Japarov who would go on to serve as an acting president and prime minister for short period of time before being officially elected in the 2021 presidential elections.[8]
Jeenbekov was widely viewed to continue his predecessor Almazbek Atambayev's policies with whom he had held close relations prior before since the 1990s that enabled Jeenbekov to rise in political ranks until two parties faced political fallout just months after he assuming office eventually leading to Atambayev's arrest and an end of his influence in Kyrgyz politics.[9]
Jeenbekov was born in Biy-Myrza, Osh Region on 16 November 1958. His father, Sharif, was a collective farm (kolkhoz) manager while his mother was a housewife.[10] His grandfather, Jeenbek Pirnazarov, was a Red Army soldier who served during the Great Patriotic War and was labelled as missing in action.[11] Jeenbekov is one of nine siblings in his family, being the third eldest child. Jeenbekov attended the Kyrgyz Academy of Agriculture, graduating with a degree in zoological engineering. In 2003, he completed further studies, graduating in accounting from the Kyrgyz National Agrarian University.[12]
Jeenbekov started his career at the Lenin School in the Uzgen District, where he worked as a teacher at 18 and taught Russian and literature. In 1983, he became the chief livestock specialist of the Soviet farm in the Soviet district of Osh region and continued to work in the position for five years. In November 1988, he managed to obtain a job as an instructor in the district committee of the Communist Party of Kyrgyzstan in the Soviet district of the Osh region. After a few years, he became the director of the party committee.[13]
After entering politics, in 1993, Jeenbekov was elected chairman of the Kashka-Zhol collective farm in Kara-Kulja District.[14] He became a Deputy of the Assembly of People's Representatives in 1995. In 2007, he became the Minister of Agriculture, Water Resources and the Processing Industry. In 2010, he served as the governor of the Osh region, and in 2015, he was appointed as director of the State Personnel Service. In March 2016, he was appointed as first deputy head of the Presidential Administration, before his appointment as Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan.[15][16]
Main article: 2017 Kyrgyz presidential election |
Jeenbekov resigned from the post of prime minister on 21 August 2017, after being named as an official candidate in the 2017 presidential election. He stated that he "[wanted] to be in an equal position with other presidential candidates."[4]
The election was held on 15 October 2017. Kyrgyzstan's central election commission reported a total of almost 1.7 million votes cast, of which Jeenbekov won 54.74 percent.[17] Jeenbekov's election marks the first democratic transfer of power in a Kyrgyz election. Azay Guliyev confirmed the election to be one of the few peaceful elections in Kyrgyzstan's history.[18]
Jeenbekov was inaugurated as president on 24 November 2017 in a ceremony that took place in the Enesay reception house of the Ala Archa State Residence.[2] His first presidential decree in office was made to confer the title of Hero of the Kyrgyz Republic to former president Atambayev. Just days into his presidency, Jeenbekov changed the time of his departure to the White House to early in the morning to avoid Bishkek traffic, a move which was praised by many Bishkek residents.[19] He conducted his first foreign visit after assuming the presidency was to Russia where he met with Vladimir Putin.[20] Early into his presidency, he has been accused of undermining the country's democracy by sandressing opposition politicians lists.[21] On 19 April 2018, Jeenbekov fired his Prime Minister Sapar Isakov and the government following a vote of no confidence from Kyrgyzstan's parliament.[22]
In an address to journalists in May 2018, Jeenbekov promised to fight against tribalism being imposed on the country saying that "We will take measures against those, who impose a "north-south" issue in the society."[23]
Jeenbekov opened the Central Mosque of Imam Sarakhsi, which is the largest mosque in Central Asia, with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during his visit to Bishkek in early September 2018.[24] During his visit, Erdoğan pressured Jeenbekov to take the appropriate measures to deal with Turkish Islamist leader Fethullah Gülen.[25]
Jeenbekov opened the 2018 World Nomad Games in Cholpon-Ata on 3 September 2018, marking the first major international event that Jeenbekov has hosted in Kyrgyzstan.[26] Receiving Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán at the Cholpon-Ata State Residence the next day, Jeenbekov thanked the prime minister for becoming the first Hungarian leader to visit the country since its independence.[27] In April 2019, Jeenbekov received Valentina Shevchenko (a professional Kyrgyz–Peruvian mixed martial artist fighter) during her tour of her native Kyrgyzstan, her first visit in seven years. Jeenbekov praised Shevchenko's role in her profession, even going as far as to say that she "defended the honour of our Kyrgyzstan".[28] On 4 May he ordered that all mining of uranium in the country will be banned.[29]
See also: List of international presidential trips made by Sooronbay Jeenbekov |
Jeenbekov's foreign policy has been described as much more balanced than his predecessors. In his inaugural remarks, he vowed to make the Kremlin the country's "main strategic partner" as well as signaled that he will seek more collaborative bilateral ties with China and the European Union. He is noted for repairing relations with neighboring Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, following an improvement in ties under Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, who took power the year before Jeenbekov, and a diplomatic crisis after Jeenbekov's predecessor, Almazbek Atambayev accused Kazakhstan of election interference and called the Kazakh government under President Nursultan Nazarbayev a "dictatorship".[30] All of this is reflected in the international working and state visits which he makes often, with Jeenbekov visiting Russia and Kazakhstan the most since 28 November 2017.
In an address to the Parliament of Kyrgyzstan in late June 2018, he outlined and made clear that his country will pursue and develop multilateral relations with Turkey, Japan, South Korea, the United States, and the Arab world by the end of his term in 2023.[31] In his first year in office, President Jeenbekov participated in 30 international meetings, where 77 bilateral agreements and 414 multilateral documents were signed. Also during his first year, Kyrgyzstan established diplomatic relations with four foreign countries.[32]
In March 2019, Jeenbekov made his remarks during a meeting with the heads of diplomatic missions of Kyrgyzstan that his country had plans to step up work on development of bilateral co-operation with the United States and United Kingdom.[33] The draft of a new co-operation agreement with the United States is currently being reconciled.[34]
During Vladimir Putin's state visit to Bishkek in March 2019, he ordered that a new marble pavilion be created outside the Ala Archa State Residence to provide a sound place for the National Guard to render honors.[35] Since then, he has received Xi Jinping, Khaltmaagiin Battulga, Narendra Modi at the new area. Jeenbekov attended the latter's second swearing-in ceremony in late May in his first visit to the Indian sub-continent.
Date | Country | Visitor | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1 September 2018 | Turkey | President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan | [citation needed] |
5 September 2018 | Hungary | Prime Minister Viktor Orbán | [36] |
28 March 2019 | Russia | President Vladimir Putin | [37][38] |
12 June 2019 | Mongolia | President Khaltmaagiin Battulga | [39] |
13 June 2019 | China | President Xi Jinping | [40] |
14 June 2019 | India | Prime Minister Narendra Modi | [41] |
27–28 November 2019 | Kazakhstan | President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev | [42] |
Jeenbekov`s rule was associated with the strengthening of family-clan ties at the highest echelons of power. It was increasingly said that key positions in the state were occupied by people close to the president by blood or regional affiliation. The president's brother, parliament deputy Asylbek Jeenbekov, was openly called the president's right hand and the "shadow cardinal."[43][44]
Jeenbekov's son-in-law became the head of the foreign policy department of the president's office, his nephew Nooruz headed the "Gazprom Kyrgyzstan" branches, another brother, Jusup Jeenbekov, headed the embassy in Ukraine, and another nephew Teniz became the head of the "Ayyl Bank" branches. Many saw this as a departure from the democratic ideals and principles that Kyrgyzstan tried to uphold since its inception.[45] Such a strengthening of the family-clan regime undermined the trust of the people in the government and became the main reason for its overthrow.[46]
As it turned out later, cases with a politically motivated bias were personally handled by the president's nephew Rustambek Borombaev in Attorney general's office, and his relatives also entered the leadership circles of the corrupt South-West customs of Kyrgyzstan.[47]
The day after his resignation, Japarov signed an order that provided Jeenbekov with the status of ex-president, which carries the privileges of access to a lifetime of personal security, the right to reside in the main government residence, a service car, and free medical service.[84] His next major appearance was alongside the Kyrgyz leadership at Ata-Beyit during a ceremony on the Days of History and Commemoration of Ancestors.[85] Jeenbekov took part in Japarov's inauguration on 28 January.[86] A week later, Jeenbekov left the country for Saudi Arabia, with many speculating that he may be going into self-exile.[87] According to Jeenbekov, his trip was a pilgrimage that came at the invitation of the King Salman of Saudi Arabia.[88]
His wife, Aigul Jeenbekova (née Tokoeva), has been married to Jeenbekov since 1988. Together, they have two children, with their eldest daughter, Baktygul, being married and a graduate from the Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University. Their younger child is a son named Iman. Jeenbekov's younger brother, Asylbek Jeenbekov, is also a politician, while his other brother, Zhusupbek Sharipov, is a former governor from Jalal-Abad and the current ambassador of Kyrgyzstan to Ukraine.[89] Another brother of his, Kantoro Toktomamatov (born in 1947), who formerly served as rector of the University of Economy and Enterprise, died in April 2017.[90][91] Aside from his native Kyrgyz, Jeenbekov is also fluent in Russian.