The most talked about news in the republic continues to be the upcoming change of flag. Parliament approved the modification of official symbols in first reading. At the initiative of President Nurlanbek Shakiyev and several legislators, the central element of the flag is planned to be replaced. The sun will be represented on it, as the representatives of the people suggest, with direct rays, so as not to evoke associations with a sunflower among foreigners.
“This version of the flag was developed with the support of President Sadyr Japarov,” says the Speaker of Parliament. In this case, according to Nurlanbek Shakiyev, it will not be necessary to change citizens’ passports or vehicle license plates. But the flags used by diplomatic missions and diasporas abroad will need to be updated. “No funds from the state budget will be needed for the modifications,” he assures, “there are sponsors who will cover the costs at this stage.”
Parallel to the modification of the flag, another important initiative is being discussed in parliament: a possible change of time zone. Deputies Mirgul Temirbayeva and Suyun Omurzakov put it up for discussion. They propose to delay the time by one hour, which will allow the republic to save electricity and citizens to get enough sleep. If the idea is approved, Kyrgyzstan will enter the UTC+5 zone. Now the difference between Bishkek time and Greenwich Mean Time is six hours.
The government of the republic, in turn, is preparing to update the country’s postal code. As Edil Baysalov, Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Kyrgyz Republic, said at the opening of the Bishkek International Forum “Spatial development. New digital reality”, the current one includes six characters or, more precisely, numbers. The authorities propose reducing it to five.
“The representatives of Kyrgyzstan Pochtasy and I have already discussed the new index,” he stressed. – Previously we decided to take the cadastral index as a basis, so as not to think about something new. It is possible that in addition to numbers you use letters.
