Nurlanbek Shakiyev, the Speaker of Kyrgyzstan's parliament, speaking about the plans to change the anthem. Screenshot from the video “Спикер ЖК: Гимн Кыргызстана будет изменен” from Kaktus Media‘s YouTube channel. Fair use.

On October 25, the Kyrgyz parliament’s speaker Nurlanbek Shakiyev revealed government plans to change the national anthem. He explained that the anthem was adopted 33 years ago when the country had just gained independence from the Soviet Union. Thus, it has to be changed, since Kyrgyzstan is a different country now that firmly stands on its feet. Shakiyev added that the anthem sounds like a march and is difficult to sing. He promised that everyone, even 6-year-olds and 90-year-olds, would be able to sing the new anthem.

Here is a YouTube video with Shakiyev's announcement of the plans to change the anthem.

Besides these explanations, Shakiyev recounted an anecdote he heard from Kyrgyzstan’s president Sadyr Japarov about the effect of the current anthem on birds. According to Shakiyev’s retelling of the story, during one of his foreign trips, Japarov noticed that birds got scared and flew away when they heard Kyrgyzstan’s anthem and came back and calmly sat on tree branches when another country’s anthem was played.

Shortly after Shakiyev’s announcement, Japarov supported the idea, repeating similar arguments. He noted that the authors of the current anthem “wrote joyful and exciting lines about Kyrgyzstan embarking on the path to independence,” but  Kyrgyzstan has since become “a full-fledged state,” which “the whole world knows” about. “Why don't we now write an anthem for future generations about the fact that our people have a five-thousand-year history?” concluded Japarov.

This is not the first time the Japarov–Shakiyev duo has worked together to change a national symbol. Last fall, Shakiyev made an unexpected statement about the need to change the national flag and faced fierce public backlash. Although he presented it as his own initiative, it was later revealed by Japarov himself that Shakiyev was simply acting on his orders. In a couple of months, Kyrgyzstan’s flag was changed despite the public consensus that the flag was perfectly fine and should remain the same.

Here is a YouTube video with the ceremony of raising the new flag on the main square in the capital Bishkek.

What made everything worse was that the authorities failed to provide convincing arguments for the change and did not solicit input from the public, such as announcing a public call for the design of the new flag. In his attempt to justify the change, Shakiyev explained that the wavy sun rays in the old flag made the tunduk (the central element of the flag and roof part of the Kyrgyz traditional yurt) look like a sunflower. On his end, Japarov campaigned for the new flag with the promise that it will help Kyrgyzstan “be a developed and independent country.”

Thus, although the authorities have promised that musicians, poets, and other stakeholders will take part in developing a new anthem, ordinary people do not harbor much trust that their voices will be heard. Judging by the available surveys, most people believe it is not necessary to change the anthem, and it would be best if the authorities put their time and resources into solving other more pressing issues.

Here is a YouTube video with citizens’ opinion on changing the anthem.

Those who are in favor highlighted that changing the anthem would be a right step with regards to decolonization, since the lyrics and music of the anthem are similar to the old anthem of the Kyrgyz Soviet Socialist Republic, a political entity that was part of the Soviet Union. Additionally, the anthem’s critics note that it is written in third person, which makes it sound like a wish, and advocate for a new anthem that would have such words as “I” and “we” in it to reflect agency and ownership.

Kyrgyzstan’s anthem was adopted in 1992. It originally consisted of three verses and a chorus. In 2012, the second chorus was removed because it contained controversial lines. If the way the flag was changed is any indication of the authorities’ approach to altering national symbols, ordinary citizens will be left out of the process of adopting a new anthem. However, the hope is that the country’s leadership has learned from its past mistakes and will ensure meaningful participation and feedback from the public.