When I went to bed last night, an isolated protest against media controls, corruption and high fuel prices in Kyrgyzstan had seen the police shoot four people dead. When I woke up this morning, the protests had widened, more people had been killed, and the government was teetering. And now it has fallen. The people of Kyrgyzstan have spoken: they will not tolerate a government which shoots them.
The question now is what happens next. The 2005 Tulip Revolution changed the leadership, but not the style of government. One dictatorial party boss was replaced by another, who then proceeded to amass wealth, control the media, fix elections, and order his people beaten and shot down in the streets when they raised their voices for change. Hopefully, this revolution will lead to something better. But looking at how the last one turned out, I doubt it.
