Kyrgyzstan's provisional leader Roza Otunbayeva was sworn in as president Saturday. Speaking after her inauguration, Otunbayeva, 59, hailed what she described as a momentous new era for Kyrgyzstan. «In Kyrgyzstan, democracy is a system that has deep roots in the souls of the people,» Otunbayeva told an audience of top government officials, diplomats and politicians. Over the course of her tenure as caretaker president, which lasts through to the end of 2011, Otunbayeva will oversee the implementation a newly adopted constitution. The new founding law dilutes presidential powers in favor of a European-style parliamentary system and has raised hopes Kyrgyzstan could become former Soviet Central Asia's first true democracy, according to a report of the Associated Press. «As president, I will spare no effort in creating a new political culture based on strict adherence to the rule of law,» Otunbayeva said in a speech. «I promise that before the onset of cold weather, the Kyrgyz government will provide housing for all who lost the roofs over their head,» she said.
