Lenin and sheep on main drag set tone of Kyrgyz revolution

Rural traditions are never far away, even in the middle of the city.

When an elderly neighbor in my apartment block died, his relatives set up yurts in the courtyard for two days of formal mourning. One morning, I noticed a horse tethered to a railing. I came home later to find it butchered and roasting over an open fire, and family members toasting their relative's memory with kumiss (fermented mare's milk), the tipple of choice of herders.

The nomadic lifestyle helps explain the fractiousnature of Kyrgyzstan's politics. Unlike the well organized opposition in Ukraine or Georgia, Kyrgyzstan's "people power" movement was a motley collection of regional, local, and ethnic groups, united not by ideology but by social and economic grievances with the Akayev regime that had held power since the breakup of the Soviet Union and the spinoff of far-flung republics into individual nations.

The main political force in Kyrgyz society is not the party but the extended family, or clan. Ask a Kyrgyz "Where are you from?" and you'll learn as much about genealogy as about place.

The kinship ties that held together this society of herders have been transplanted to urban settings, and to the political system.

For ethnic Russians in Kyrgyzstan, who live in urban areas, politics is mostly about issues and strategy, and the Russian-language press reflects this in its analytical coverage.

But for the Kyrgyz, it's all about family. "When a political appointment is made," a Kyrgyz colleague once told me, "the Kyrgyz press never asks about policy. They just want to know who he is, where he's from, who he's related to, and whether he'll find jobs in government for his family."

Mr. Akayev did just that, appointing members of his immediate and extended family to key government posts. That may sound like nepotism, but it makes more sense in a culture where for thousands of years people have relied on their extended family for food, shelter, and protection. In Kyrgyzstan, a successful career in politics or business carries a moral duty to help family members.

Western observers no longer call Kyrgyzstan an "island of democracy," but it is still a relatively liberal society among authoritarian Central Asian states. It is strategic host to both Russian and US military bases, and has the outward trappings of a modern political system - an executive, a legislature, and a judiciary; political parties; nongovernmental organizations and civil-society groups. But traditional and rural values remain strong.

This is a society where counting sheep is a serious business - wealth and social status depend on it - and where there's still a pasture in the city center.

• David Mould teaches mass communications and international studies at Ohio University. He was a Fulbright senior scholar in journalism and mass communication in Kyrgyzstan, and has worked as a trainer and consultant to TV and radio stations there.

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