Kyrgyzstan's opposition and supporters of President Kurmanbek Bakiyev said on Tuesday they had struck a deal to defuse a constitutional standoff that flared into clashes between rival protesters, according to Reuters. But it was not immediately clear if Bakiyev himself would accept the deal. Protesters camped out in a square in the capital demanding the president's resignation said they would stay put until they were convinced the agreement will stick. The political crisis has destabilised Kyrgyzstan, a strategically important part of the resource-rich Central Asia region where China, Russia and the United States jostle for influence. The country has been locked in a high-stakes standoff. Opposition lawmakers unilaterally adopted a new constitution slashing presidential powers, and Bakiyev responded by threatening to dissolve parliament. Violence erupted for the first time on Tuesday when riot police used tear gas to break up fighting between a group of opposition supporters and pro-government protesters. Six people were taken to hospital, the health ministry said. After hours of talks in parliament, opposition and pro-government lawmakers announced they had agreed on a compromise draft of a new constitution that would drastically reduce presidential powers. The proposed draft would strip the president of his right to dissolve parliament and give parliament the power to appoint the prime minister and cabinet. "We have chosen to go down the path of a parliamentary-presidential form of government," Kanybek Imanaliyev, an opposition leader, told a news conference. Senior lawmakers who back Bakiyev sat alongside the opposition leader and endorsed the compromise deal. Previously they had been unable to find a consensus on a new constitution. "I have been speaking in the square with our members of parliament. They are convincing our supporters that we have reached agreement and they should go home quietly," said Imanaliyev. STAYING PUT Bakiyev's office made no comment on the deal in parliament. If two thirds of the 75-seat chamber approve the new constitution, under law the president will have to accept it. A Reuters reporter at the opposition protest said numbers had dwindled from 2,000 earlier to a few hundred by nightfall. But those that remained said it was too early to declare victory and go home. Edil Baisalov, a leader of the For Reform! opposition movement, said he feared there could be clashes overnight that the government would use as a pretext to bury the new constitution. "We are very concerned about an attack on the square tonight ... That will be used to justify a state of emergency, then the new constitution will be lost," he said. Tuesday's protests had a Kyrgyz twist, with both the opposition and rival pro-government protesters nearby pitching yurts, traditional cylindrical felt tents. Police in riot gear were watching the protests. Bakiyev's government accused the opposition of "an open attempt to seize power" after it overnight adopted its own version of the constitution without consulting with the other camps. The president told a news conference he did not want to dissolve parliament but added: "If contradictions between the legislature and the executive continue, what will I have left to do? I cannot watch such an orgy." Bakiyev was swept to power last year after rioting in the capital forced his predecessor to flee. He was elected soon after on a promise of thorough reform. Opposition leaders say he has backtracked on that commitment and allowed his administration to become mired in corruption and nepotism.
