General Perceptions of a Good Political Leader in Kyrgyzstan

Abstract

This article analyzes general perceptions of a good political leader of post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan by looking at how political leadership is perceived by the ordinary people in the country. This issue seems to be particularly important with country taking a new route – parliamentary republic and facing crisis of political leadership as a result of two revolutions of 2005 and 2010. Furthermore the article sheds some light at people's expectations which are important due to the presidential elections in fall 2011. The article looks at what type of a leader the people of Kyrgyzstan wish to see, and what are the qualities (personal or professional) a political leader must possess. In an attempt to answer these questions, the article identifies ten main qualities of a “good” political leader for Kyrgyzstan as a result of a filed study and tries to evaluate the Kyrgyz case within a broader body of literature about political leadership.