A Study On The Political Changes Of The Five Countries Of Central Asia In A Decade And A Half Sine Independence

In 1991, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan declared independence. Since that,the five Central Asian countries soon fell into a comprehensive economic crisis. Taking active measures to deal with the crisis, the governments also accelerated the pace of economic reform. And as a result, the countries' economy began to recover since 1996. Compared with the achievements acquired in the economic system reformation, the political system reforms in the five Central Asian countries are full of difficulties and risks.Since independence, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan introduced the Western liberal democracy and the separation mechanism of powers into the politics, but the powers tangled, constrained each other, and finally affected the political stability. After that Kazakhstan ultimately completed the transition from the presidential system of separated powers to the presidential system of centralized power through the revision of the constitution, the parliamentary reformations and the measure of decreasing the parliament power to strengthen presidential power. It maintained the political stability better for Kazakhstan. Meantime Kyrgyzstan President Askar Akayev antagonized too many enemies and failed to resolve the conflicts between the opposition party and the president. In 2005, suffered 'Tulip Revolution', he lived in exile in Russia. After Kurmanbek Bakiyev became the president of Kyrgyzstan, he faced a more complicated political situation, and new threats of political crisis in Kyrgyzstan.Different from Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan's political evolution always followed their own unique track, that is, the introduction of a highly centralized presidential system and a strict control on the oppositions. Therefore, there is no acute confrontation occurred between the president and the oppostions like it in Kazakhstan or Kyrgyzstan. However, Uzbekistan had suffered more threats from religious extremist organizations like the 'Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan' and the 'Islamic Liberation Party' than any other Central Asian country.Since the independence, Tajikistan experienced a five and a half years civil war, a national economy collapse and the unprecedented recessions in all fields. With the efforts of the international community and the warring parties, Tajikistan finally realized national reconciliation, and a stable political situation. The country is developing steadily towards national economic recovery, peace, and stability.Through the comparision of the political situation changes in the five countries since their independence, with the deep understanding of the evolutions in their economic system and political system, with the knowledge of the current status of their ethnic and religious issues, we can make certain predictions of their changes in the future.