Of course, if among the male candidates there was a pronounced reformer who would be most serious about democratization our rigid political system, it would be safe to cast votes for him.
But look carefully at the list - you will not find any such candidate there. There is not even a person who understands or recognizes the principles of parliamentary. Omurbek Tekebayev was just such a person, but his participation in these elections is under the big question.
We see quite a different picture in the camp of women candidates. Until now two women, Rita Karasartova and Kamilla Sharshekeeva, were able to file documents for registration, and both of them are potential reformers, because their biographies, goals, missions and achievements all testify to this, all this is a struggle for democracy, dignity and freedom and human rights.
The same will happen if Gulnara Derbisheva, Cholpon Zhakupova, Dinara Oshurahunova, Altynai Arstanbekova come to power - all these our advanced females are, in general, ready to have been reformers.
We do not see anything similarly in the camp of male candidates. There are plenty of strong men, steep businessmen, bright leaders-farmers and even there are we see those who are able to cancel the winter and make other such wonders. We don't see there only the truly reformer in whom our country needs the most.
From first speech of Kamillaa Sharshekeeva when she annonced about readiness
to participate into the upcoming presidential election
Dear fellow citizens,
We stand on the threshold of the most important and decisive event since our country’s independence. We must make a choice that determines our further destiny.
In 1961, John Kennedy, the legendary President of the United States of America, said at his inauguration, that as a result of elections, the torch of leadership had been given to the new generation. His generation was to renew the politics of the American government, as the previous generation was no longer able to solve the issues of the country. The country needed a leadership that was able to see far into the future.
Today I want to stand up for the new generation of leaders, which has grown and matured in the independent Kyrgyzstan. Their most important trait that they have no imprint of the system that collapsed under its own weight. Those who have led the country in the last decades have grown up in a bankrupt system, and unfortunately, have shown themselves to be energetic only about making wealth and profit for themselves, rather than promoting the nation’s interests.
We need a leader who will fight against those who are corrupt and stand up for the rule of law: a leader who will attract investment to Kyrgyzstan, from both within and abroad. With the current level of corruption in the country, our citizens prefer to invest their money abroad, and foreigners avoid Kyrgyzstan altogether.
If the current leadership remains in power within a system corrupt from head to toe, everything else will remain the same. We need investments for creating new jobs to encourage the young people of Kyrgyzstan not to migrate to Russia and other countries in search of bread.
We need new and creative leaders who know the way the modern world works, who are able to integrate Kyrgyzstan’s economy into that world.
Our political heavyweights only know the world of the past, and that system has proved to be a failure, as I already mentioned. We need leaders with new knowledge, able to offer progressive ideas and create a new reality. Our new system taught us only how to copy something that someone else had already produced and accept things as a given without a critical mind.
We will not survive as a nation, as a sovereign country, if we continue to live in the old way.
I want to put forward my candidacy for the Presidency of our Republic, and stand as a candidate on behalf of the new leaders.
In my life, I worked much to create honest educational institutions, such as the American University of Central Asia and International University of Central Asia; these are institutions where students earn their grades and degrees and able to create their own model of development of our country. I have initiated the ORT, the national-wide testing for high-school graduates, which remains the only systemic reform in the education for the past 25 years, and thus has been a step forward against corruption when one enrolls in higher education.
In those conditions, I did what I could, and now wish to do more. Kyrgyzstan needs deep transformation if we want to take our place among the developed and civilized countries of the world.