In 1994, Akayev dissolved the 'legendary parliament' and revised the Constitution by expanding his powers.

From 1993 to 2005, the basic law was amended five times and all of them were in favour of the head of state. Akayev, by referendums and constitutional amendments, was re-elected as the president four times. It has caused the discontent of the opposition and people, who blamed him for the usurpation of power.

In 2002, several deputies claimed that Akayev signed the agreement on the transfer of disputed border territories with the total area of 95 thousand hectares to China without their knowledge. The opposition accused the president of corruption and breach of the law that reads that only the parliament may make decisions on boundary demarcation.

During Akayev's presidency, media outlets were under pressure. On July 15, 1994, he demanded at the First Congress of Judges of the republic to stop the activity of the parliamentarian newsletter 'Svobodnyye gory' ['Free Mountains'], which published materials on the facts of illegal privatisation of the state-owned assets and investment frauds. One month later, the trial commenced and resulted in the closure of the newsletter.

In 1995, Akayev filed a suit against the newspaper 'Respublika' ['Republic'] accusing it of defamation. The newspaper published a story that the president had a villa in Switzerland and a house in Türkiye. The court sentenced the editor of the newspaper and her deputy to one and a half years in prison with suspended execution of the sentence.

Later on, other high-ranking officials began to file suits against journalists. Media workers were accused of defamation and insults.

The 2000s became the heyday of labour migration in the country. Because of poverty and unemployment, 400 thousand Kyrgyzstanis left mainly for Russia to work in the service and construction industry. Witnesses of the Akayev's regime say that only his people lived in prosperity.

The first president's family is a separate topic to discuss. His spouse, Mairam Akayeva, ran a range of public foundations and associations. Later it was said that the relatives of the ex-first lady were involved in illegal operations related to the gold mine 'Kumtor'. The first president's children were similarly involved in the political life of the country, which could not but irritate the nationals.

According to political analyst Medet Tyulegenov, the initial plans of Akayev about the social development and democracy were good-natured, until something went wrong at some point.

Amid the growing autocratisation, according to the expert, the fact that interests of both Akayev and his family members mainly focused not on the country's development, but on illicit personal enrichment played its role.

"Decisions about what and how should be developed in the country were made by Akayev himself. But his family members did not stand aside, especially when it came to some business assets," Tyulegenov said. "How can one ensure that he/she has and will have access to the country's resources and wealth? Only by extending his powers."

In turn, candidate of political sciences Chinara Esengul said that Askar Akayev sincerely believed in the idea of liberal democracy in his day. However, according to her, his belief was naïve as the first president did not take into account that political and economic culture of the people of Kyrgyzstan was different and the ideas of liberal democracy could not be copy-pasted. Especially, given the fact that in the 90s our country just went out of the totalitarian Soviet system.

By results of the parliamentary election of February 2005, only pro-government parties made it to the Zhogorku Kenesh. Their members were the daughter and son of Akayev – Bermet and Aidar. However, some oppositionists were not even allowed to take part in the election.

European observers recognised that the voting fell short of international standards because of the use of administrative resources and vote buying. It all caused mass protests, which were called the 'tulip revolution'.

On March 4, 2005, unrest began in the south of Kyrgyzstan – supporters of oppositionists seized administrative buildings, established alternative authorities and demanded the president's resignation.

Upon the end of Akayev's regime, there were opinions that an entire generation of oppositionists grew up during his regime in Kyrgyzstan, who started to get together and fight against the authority, while citizens started to stand for their democratic rights.

Meanwhile, there were opinions that Akayev gave a grounding for all the bad things – vote buying, pressure upon the media, corruption deals and the family and clan rule. The 'tulip revolution' was expected to release Kyrgyzstan from all such things. And Kurmanbek Bakiev, who came to power, did not skimp on promises and said he would not repeat the mistakes of previous authorities.

Kurmanbek Bakiev was the acting head of state until the early presidential election. By results of the voting of June 10, 2005, he won a convincing victory with 88.9 per cent of votes.

One of the key slogans of politicians who came to power after the 2005 revolution was to reform the constitution, which Akayev tailored to himself. However, Bakiev was not in a hurry to amend it as he felt fine about the 'super-presidential' regime.

By autumn 2006, the political situation in the country became tense, there were demands of the president's resignation, and permanent rallies started. As a result, two versions of the Constitution were prepared in November and December. But on September 14, 2007, the Constitutional Court cancelled them. The 2003 version came into force again, which allowed the president to stand for election more than two times.

On October 21 of the same year, yet another referendum took place by Bakiev's decree, and the new version of the Constitution was approved then. The key difference was that the parliament became a party-based, and the same person could not be the president for more than two consecutive terms.

In 2009, Bakiev was elected president for the second time. By results of voting, he won over 76 per cent of votes. However, his opponents declared mass breaches during preparation to and holding of the election.

In terms of the staff policy, Kurmanbek Bakiev soon fell into the same trap as Akayev did, and made things even worse. There was again the family and clan system in the country, while his children and brothers wielded influence almost in all spheres of public life.

The elder son of the president, Marat, was deputy chief of the National Security Service, and his full brother, Zhanysh Bakiev, was the head of the State Guard Service. The youngest son, Maksim, took office of the director of the Central Agency for Development, Investment and Innovation (CADII) in 2009. He controlled all financial flows in the state, and his name was associated with the largest companies of the country many times.

During Bakiev's rule, there was a number of high-profile murders of businessmen, deputies, prominent stuntman Usen Kudaibergenov, athlete Raatbek Sanatbaev, journalist Gennady Pavlyuk, and ex-head of the presidential administration Medet Sadyrkulov.

At the same time, Kyrgyzstan had a low standard of living, while electricity and heating rates doubled. Because of the power system crisis, rolling blackouts were introduced, and people had no electricity for hours. On top of that, a tax at the rate of two cents was introduced in January 2010 for a mobile connection. It was later said that this money was transferred directly to the accounts in AsiaUniversalBank, which belonged to Maksim Bakiev.

According to candidate of political sciences Chinara Esengul, the years of presidency of Kurmanbek Bakiev were the worst and were a step backwards for Kyrgyzstan.

"In other words, we have a weak raw material base. For example, we have no oil and gas unlike Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. As a result, the national economy is less developed in general. And those years we drifted even more into corruption schemes, family management and drainage of small yet available resources," she said.

According to political analyst Medet Tyulegenov, there was a serious backsliding on many democratisation processes during the years of Bakiev's rule. Especially, he said, it was obvious in the period of 2007 through 2010.

It all led to new unrests in 2010.

On March 17, the opposition led by Roza Otunbaeva held a kurultai, which resulted in 10 demands made to authorities, including reduction in utility tariffs and elimination of CADII led by Maksim Bakiev.

On April 6, the people's kurultai of the opposition gathered nearly two thousand people in the city of Talas. The gathering turned into clashes with the police. As a result, the crowd burned the local administration building down and beat severely the minister of interior affairs, Moldomusa Kongantiev. The protests against the Bakievs initially started in Talas.

On April 7, the unrests covered Bishkek. The protest was accompanied by mass arrests, clashes with the police and disorders. After clashes with the police, the protesters stormed the 'White House'. The snipers were on the roofs of administrative buildings and the 'White House', and opened fire at the protesters. However, it annoyed the crowd even more. During the storm, the protesters crushed the parliament building and burned the Prosecutor General's Office down. 87 people died during the clashes and firing.

In the evening, Kurmanbek Bakiev left the 'White House' and fled to the south of the country. After a while, his people also started to flee. On April 8, the power actually was handed over to the provisional government led by Roza Otunbaeva.

It is known that Bakiev fled to Belarus, where he is still living. In Kyrgyzstan, he and members of his clan were sentenced in absentia to long prison terms.

After the April revolution, the provisional government accepted the functions of the executive branch for six months. On May 19, 2010, Roza Otunbaeva was vested with presidential powers until December 31.

In June 2010, the issues of adoption of the new Constitution and approval of the office of president of the transitional period were put to a referendum. The majority of Kyrgyzstanis agreed with the suggested amendments and thus supported the transition to the parliamentary government system and the election of the president for one six-year term, and no second run for the presidency.

The official ceremony of inauguration of Roza Otunbaeva took place on July 3, 2010. Thus, she became the one and only female president in Central Asia so far.

During his presidency, few major projects were launched, including erection of the Datka-Kemin power line, and commencement of construction of the North-South road.

It is worth noting that the family of Almazbek Atambaev did not interfere in the political affairs, but his inner circle did it effectively. Ikramzhan Ilmiyanov was the most prominent person. Back in the early 2000s, Ilmiyanov was Atambaev's personal driver, and from 2011 to 2017 he became the deputy chief of the presidential administration and advisor to the head of state. This fact was repeatedly criticised.

In 2016, Atambaev held a referendum of amendments to the Constitution. The amendments, in particular, concerned the strengthening of powers of the prime minister and weakening of the judiciary. Back then, Kyrgyzstan had a moratorium on amendments to the Constitution until 2020. However, the powers that be did not bother about the interdiction.

The final stage of Atambaev's rule was best remembered for several criminal cases against journalists and the media. In particular, in spring 2017 Prosecutor General Indira Dzholdubaeva filed multi-million suits against the website Zanoza.kg and radio Azattyk. Later on, the suits against the outlets were withdrawn.

Almazbek Atambaev could not run for a second term. And the next candidate for the key office in the country became, at his initiative, his friend and party fellow Sooronbai Zheenbekov in 2017. Thus, Atambaev was the first president of Kyrgyzstan who handed over power peacefully upon the completion of the presidential term of office.

Analysing the years of Atambaev's rule, candidate of political sciences Chinara Esengul said that there was an attempt to create conditions for democratisation of the election process, i.e. the unified biometrics system, electronic devices to count votes, etc., during his rule.

According to Medet Tyulegenov, despite the fact that Atambaev did not bring his family members to power, he created the inheritance system anyway.

"It was a peaceful transition of power, yet the presidential election of 2017 was non-competitive. It was a voting to ensure the victory of the person selected by Atambaev himself," Tyulegenov said. "Moreover, there were problems with providing access to a free media scene to other candidates."

The expert emphasised that the attempts of Atambaev to secure his successor and attacks on journalists became important moments on the list of his negative heritage.

Sooronbai Zheenbekov assumed office of the president of Kyrgyzstan on November 24, 2017. No significant changes or improvements in the lives of citizens took place for the three years of ruling. He would be best remembered for his confrontation with Atambaev.

Controversy between friends started a few months after the inauguration of Zheenbekov. At one of press conferences, Atambaev accused his successor of the clan system and compared him to Bakiev. In turn, Zheenbekov accused Atambaev of disrespect and the desire to continue to interfere and to run the state.

Amid the conflict, many staff, which were very close to Atambaev, were dismissed, including Prime Minister Sapar Isakov. And in June 2019, the parliament stripped Atambaev of the status of ex-president, and immunity, respectively. Several criminal cases were initiated against the ex-head of state, including the illegal release of the criminal kingpin, corruption, abuse of office, and illicit enrichment.

Atambaev denied all charges. His refusal to attend the police interview resulted in his residence being stormed, when over 130 people were injured and one Special Forces agent died. Atambaev surrendered and was taken into custody. His inner circle, particularly, Sapar Isakov, ex-advisor Farid Niyazov, and ex-mayor of Bishkek Albek Ibraimov ended up behind bars on various charges.

The coronavirus pandemic occurred during the rule of Zheenbekov. The state was unprepared for it, and the imposed restrictive measures failed. It even got worse in some aspects – the national economy was badly affected, and hundreds of citizens became jobless. During the peak of the disease, hospitals turned out to be unprepared for a whole wave of patients, so only volunteers could save the patients in some cases.

It all intensified criticism of authorities, while president's speeches only annoyed the Kyrgyzstanis. The parliamentarian election that took place on October 4, 2020 were the beginning of the end for Zheenbekov.

By results of the parliamentary election, only four parties out of 16 registered ones managed to overcome the seven per cent threshold. Two alliances close to the Zheenbekov's family and other influential persons received almost a half of mandates.

The losing parties refused to recognise the election results and took to streets to protest. Other discontented citizens joined them. The protesters blamed the authorities in vote buying, use of administrative resources, and also demanded to hold repeat elections.

Later that day, protests turned into clashes with security forces. The protesters stormed the 'White House', seized the pre-trial detention centre, and released Almazbek Atambaev and other politicians, including Sadyr Japarov (he was serving a 10-year term since 2017 following a conviction in organising mass unrests and hostage taking in 2013), from prison by force.

Later on, some released politicians disappeared completely, while Atambaev was again placed behind bars, and Sadyr Japarov was freed from all charges.

During the clashes, over a hundred people were injured, one participant of the protest actions died. In the midst of the wave of protests, Sooronbai Zheenbekov said he relied on wisdom of organisers, and then he vanished.

After coming to power, Sadyr Japarov promised not to repeat mistakes of his predecessors, but said that the republic should return to the presidential government for effective fight against corruption, economic growth and national development.

Thus, on January 10, 2021, the referendum was held along with the presidential election, where Japarov received 79.2 per cent of votes and became the winner. By results of the referendum, 84 per cent of voters voted for the presidential government.

In February that year, Sadyr Japarov initiated amendments to the Constitution. They were designed to strengthen presidential powers – the head of state was to head the executive branch, determine the body and structure of the cabinet of ministers, form the presidential administration and Security Council. In fact, all the power belonged to one person. The number of deputies was reduced from 120 to 90, some were elected from party lists, and some were elected from single-member constituencies.

The referendum on amending the basic law was held in April. The amendments were approved and came into force in May 2021. The current constitution was called by people "khan-stitution" for the reinforced presidential power.

According to political analyst Medet Tyulegenov, the current leadership of the country came to power at the moment when the political elite was split, and there was a political vacuum.

"That's why the current authorities could use the general weakness and fill in the vacuum and build the architecture it deemed the most suitable for it," the expert said.

Authorities repeatedly claimed that Kyrgyzstan had the freedom of speech and the republic remained committed to democratic principles. However, human rights defenders and activists said that the course of events and some facts suggested otherwise.

For example, peaceful gatherings and protests have been prohibited in the centre of Bishkek for more than a year. Protests may be held only at one square. Independent media are under more pressure – various protests have been held against their activities, where threats and harsh hate speech were used.

Some journalists and bloggers who expressed their constitutional right to the freedom of expression were persecuted. An exclusion of investigative journalist Bolot Temirov from the country was one of the high-profile cases, as well as the detention of 22 activists who opposed the transfer of Kempir-Abad reservoir to Uzbekistan.

In 2021, the so-called 'law on fake news' was passed, which, according to some lawyers, encouraged reprisals over unwanted media outlets and established censorship in the country. It was already used to block the websites of 'Res Publica' and Kloop.kg, to block temporarily the website of 'Azattyk', and to block partially the 24.kg. Moreover, authorities have initiated draft laws 'On non-governmental organisations' and 'On foreign agents'. According to human rights activists, the documents were copy pasted from the Russian law and were meant to suppress the freedom of speech.

In 2023, Kyrgyzstan lost 50 scores in the global press freedom ranking and took the 122^nd place.

According to experts, Kyrgyzstan is no longer the 'island of democracy', which it used to be based on the overall assessment of 32 years of independence. However, the pathway has always been uneven for all these years.

"For example, Kyrgyzstan might have looked much worse in 2009 than it is now," Medet Tyulegenov said. "It does not flatter the current situation, but it shows that there may be ups and downs. However, we don't want ups to be accompanied by some violent or bloody uprisings every time."

He also said that it is difficult to forecast the course of events. According to him, the current situation is not favourable to current authorities, and they do not see any serious obstacles on their path. As to the milestone events, they, according to him, can happen only after some 'trigger', which would make other sluggish processes more dynamic.

As to the civil society, according to analysts, it is now feeling pessimistic and expects little positive prospects, and the question of how citizens can affect it becomes less priority.

"Such moods can change often, too. It could be a certain calm that won't last long," Tyulegenov said. "And, perhaps, people in power understand it and so they keep on tightening the screws to get rid of opponents and try to fix the passive attitude of people towards what happens in the political sphere."

In turn, political analyst Emil Dzhuraev believes that certain factors must be present to make democratic elections and democracy in general real. One of them is the demand by the public.