Britain has at least one thing in common with Kyrgyzstan — both countries do not have a written constitution.
The difference is that Britons never had one, while the Kyrgyz have lost theirs. There was embarrassment in the capital Bishkek this week when it emerged that the basic law governing the country had disappeared.
MPs preparing to debate changes to the constitution in the Central Asian state were stunned to learn that the original signed document had gone missing, with different branches of government blaming each other for the mishap. Kyrgyzstan adopted its first constitution in 1993 after gaining independence from the Soviet Union. It was replaced in 2007 and again in 2010.
Jyldyz Mambetaliyeva, the justice minister, told the hearing she had copies of