Kyrgyzstan is experiencing hours of political upheaval after the controversial legislative elections held last Sunday, which led to intense protests that left at least one dead and several hundred injured. Given this, Prime Minister Kubatbek Boronov submitted his resignation.
Kyrgyzstan is experiencing hours of political upheaval after the controversial legislative elections held last Sunday, which led to intense protests that left at least one dead and several hundred injured. Faced with this, Prime Minister Kubatbek Boronov decided to annul the elections and present his resignation.
Boronov, close to President Sooronbay Jeenbekov , was replaced by a politician released from jail yesterday by protesters, Sadyr Japarov , in a decision taken by Kyrgyz parliament members in a hotel, as the building remains occupied by protesters.
Shortly before Boronov's resignation was known, the electoral commission of this former Soviet republic in Central Asia reported that the results of the legislative elections “were invalidated” after a night of strong protests in the country , in which protesters looted several buildings officials and released a former president from prison, the Télam news agency reported.
Jeenbekov, 61, elected in 2017, assured that he had urged the security forces not to open fire on the protesters , and that he proposed that the Central Election Commission examine “carefully all irregularities and, if necessary, annul the results. of the elections “, which finally happened hours later.
The result of the legislative elections, in which the parties favorable to the president triumphed , sparked protests in which thousands of opponents took to the streets of the capital, Bishkek , to demand the resignation of the president and the holding of new elections. In the clashes with the police – who used stun grenades and tear gas – there were at least one dead and 686 injured , according to the Health Ministry.
The protesters invaded the government headquarters and released former president Almazbek Atambayev , Jeenbekov's rival, from jail , who was serving an 11-year sentence and was awaiting a new trial for organizing riots and murder, charges linked to his arrest in 2019, when a wave of violence also threatened to destabilize the country.
For its part, the Russian government said it was “concerned” by the situation and asked the Kyrgyz political forces “to remain constitutional” to find “quickly a solution.” It should be noted that Russian President Vladimir Putin is close to Jeenbekov.
These protests are reminiscent of those of 2010 and 2015, which overthrew the authorities, accused of corruption and concentration of power, and which were also peppered with looting, in a poor country that is considered a democratic exception in Central Asia , but whose transitions policies were always convulsive.
