The Kyrgyz parliament voted overwhelmingly on Thursday to close a US military base on its territory, in a blow for coalition forces who use the facility as a key supply route for Afghanistan. The vote came after the top US commander in Afghanistan predicted a "tough year" for the conflict-torn country even with the deployment of thousands of extra troops over the coming months.
The bill to close the US air base at Manas easily passed through parliament, with 78 out of a total 81 lawmakers present voting in favour. One MP voted against and two abstained. Ruling Ak Zhol party MP Zayinidin Kurmanov said after the vote that the legislation must now be signed by President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, whose announcement last month of the base's closure shocked Washington.
"After that Bishkek should send a note by the ministry of foreign affairs to the American side and within the next 180 days the United States must remove its base from the territory of Kyrgyzstan," the lawmaker said. Despite its importance, the vote proceeded with little fanfare with lawmakers then moving on to their next deliberations.
"The Kyrgyz Republic has the complete legal right to unilaterally withdraw from the agreement with the United States over the base," MP Avtandil Arabaev, also from the dominant Ak Zhol, said ahead of the vote. Only Social Democrat lawmaker Bakyt Beshimov voted against the decision, saying that the closure of the base would "weaken the regional security situation and open the road to extremism and terrorism."
Bakiyev's initial announcement of the closure came after Russia offered more than two billion dollars in aid to the struggling Kyrgyz economy. But the government has insisted that Moscow did not set the closure as a condition.
The parliament's move drew a mixed reaction from Bishkek's streets. "Those who wanted the base closed don't know what they're talking about. The Kyrgyz can't live alone," said Pavel, a former base employee and now a taxi driver, who only gave his first name. "The economy is not developing. They need a big brother - be it Russia, America or someone else."
But 54-year-old Vladimir Morozov told AFP: "I'm very happy that in the end our capital will be rid of the Americans. They behaved very badly, like they owned the place." "We should only keep company with and believe Russia." The closure of the base would further strain coalition supply lines at a time when US President Barack Obama is planning to nearly double the 36,000-strong force in increasingly unstable Afghanistan. The United States and Nato had both expressed disappointment over the base's closure and urged the Kyrgyz authorities to change their minds.