Kyrgyzstan: Exorcising Democracy

Seven rams have been sacrificed ahead of a parliamentary session in the Central Asian state of Kyrgyzstan in attempt to drive evil spirits from last year’s bloody uprising out of the lawmaking chamber.

­The ritual was performed on Thursday morning to commemorate the people killed in last April’s uprising, the Kyrgyz parliamentary press office told RIA-Novosti news agency.

Some superstitious citizens believed the blood spilled under the parliament’s walls bore a charge of negative energy which led to conflicts and even fights between deputies, and thus it needed to be washed away by an ancient ritual.

The parliament building got its bad reputation after being under siege twice: in March 2005 and in April 2010.

Almost all the deputies attended Thursday’s traditional ceremony, funded by their own money. Some $15 dollars had been withheld from the salary of each of them.

After the rams were slaughtered, their meat was sent to retirement homes along with part of the remaining money. A small sum was also sent to local orphanages.

After the ceremony finished and ensuing prayers were said, the deputies returned to their usual lawmaking duties.

As far as superstitions are concerned, Kyrgyzstan keeps in pace with Russia, where the evil spirits are even driven away from internet servers.

Last month, an Orthodox priest sanctified the servers of RuTube, Youtube’s Russian competitor. Not a single technical failure was detected during the process, which may be regarded as a good sign of spirits preferring to keep away from the internet.