## Lull follows after drastic regime change A relative lull came on Tuesday after days of drastic changes that saw a swift regime change and a devastating riot in the streets of Kyrgyzstan's capital Bishkek. Against an azure sky with little clouds, the snow-crowned mountains to the south of the capital lie idly under the warmth of the sun. Life seems to have returned to normal days with more shops opening, and more people going out and traffic growing heavier. As more money-changing kiosks opens for business, one dollar can now be changed into 40, instead of 35, Kyrgyz soms. Broken glasses and dirty paper boards, legacy of a wild rampage in March 24 and 25 that caused numerous commercial sites pillaged and torched, have been cleaned up. Gaping wounds on the shopping windows along the streets, however, still reminds people of what have just happened. The tents pitched by opposition supporters on a grassy field near the White House, the main government building, have been removed, leaving a trace of crushed grass and some empty mineral water bottles. Makeshift stages have been disassembled on the adjacent central square, where thousands of demonstrators and by-standers watched opposition leaders delivering lambasting speeches against the now exiled President Askar Akayev's government. In the politics arena, a bitter strife between two conflicting parliaments subsided when the upper house of Kyrgyzstan's previous parliament agreed on Tuesday to cede power to its new replacement. The lower chamber gave up its power on Monday. Prime Minister Kurmanbek Bakiyev, appointed by the new parliament Monday, has yet to announce its new cabinet, though some acting ministers had been named by him when he was made acting president and prime minister by the outgoing parliament shortly after the ouster of Akayev on March 24. Both Bakiyev and the newly elected Parliament Speaker Omurbek Tekebayev have called for the resignation of Akayev, saying only in this way can Kyrgyzstan avoid anti-constitutional pitfalls and realize a smooth regime change. Bakiyev has offered to guarantee the safety of the now ousted president by saying that a law granting the ousted president immunity remains still in force. Akayev, who himself said to be in suburb Moscow, suggested for the first time that he may resign if security is guaranteed. "If security is guaranteed to me, I am willing to start dialogue (with the new parliament) so that life in Kyrgyzstan can return to the constitutional path and so that the problem of electing a new president can be resolved in the legal and constitutional framework," Akayev said Tuesday in an interview to be published by Rossiiskaya Gazeta on Wednesday. Source: Xinhua
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