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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Kyrgyzstan president: Ready to resign amid unrest

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Kyrgyzstan president: Ready to resign amid unrest
Kyrgyzstan president: Ready to resign amid unrest

Kyrgyzstan's President Sooronbai Jeenbekov said on Friday he was ready to resign once a new cabinet was appointed to end the power vacuum in the Central Asian nation gripped by unrest since opposition supporters seized government buildings on Tuesday.

Libby Hogan reports.

Kyrgyzstan's President Sooronbai Jeenbekov said on Friday (October 9) he was ready to resign, once a new cabinet was appointed to end the power vacuum in the Central Asian country.

He also signed an order dismissing the Prime Minister Kubatbek Boronov and his cabinet.

Kyrgyzstan has been gripped by instability since parliamentary elections on Sunday.

Government critics and Western monitors said it was tainted by vote-buying.

The election handed victory to two establishment parties, one of them closely linked to Jeenbekov.

That sparked unrest in the former Soviet state, with protesters calling it a stolen election.

Now, in offering to resign, the president appears to be extending an olive branch to them, but it may do little to solve the deadlock.

It's also prompted nearby Russia to describe Kyrgyzstan's situation as chaos.

President Jeenbekov spoke out earlier in the week: "I am holding personal talks with various political parties.

Dear political leaders, as the President, I am prepared to do everything in my power to find a way out of this political dead end." At least 11 parties refused to accept Sunday's results.

On Tuesday, opposition supporters stormed government buildings.

But throughout the week, confusion has continued and scuffles have broken out between rival groups grappling for power.

Parliament has failed to reach an agreement on who should take over from ousted ministers.

At least three opposition groups have proposed their own candidates for interim prime minister.

Krygyzstan is the third former Soviet republic this year that has experienced unrest, alongside Belarus and the Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh in Azerbaijan.

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