Power vacuum in Kyrgyzstan brings political crisis to a head

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Kyrgyz Presidential Press Servic Via Reuters

Kyrgyzstan’s President Sooronbai Jeenbekov in Bishkek on Oct. 4. Deepening turmoil in the country comes amid ongoing strife elsewhere on Russia’s periphery.

MOSCOW — Kyrgyzstan’s government has been at a standstill this week after annulled parliamentary elections created a power vacuum with multiple political factions vying to fill it. Now, the central Asian country is likely to see its third president suddenly toppled by a revolt in 15 years.

The situation has left Kyrgyzstan in a state of leaderless disarray: President Sooronbai Jeenbekov has said that he remains in control even as his whereabouts have been unknown since opposition forces broke into the parliament building on Tuesday and seized several other government complexes. Some speculated that he might have fled the country.

But on Friday, Jeenbekov dismissed Prime Minister Kubatek Boronov and his cabinet and said he was ready to resign once new leadership is appointed.

It’s unclear if the move will lead to a seamless transfer of power. Kyrgyzstan’s political impasse has been spurred on by a divided opposition that has so far failed to agree on who would lead the new provisional government.

[Kyrgyzstan’s deepening political crisis, explained]

Lawmakers splintered into factions — one met at a hotel and another at a movie theater — to decide who should get the nod for prime minister. But separately, they have struggled to get enough votes for a quorum. The outgoing parliament has not convened, either.

The turmoil has deepened concerns about instability on Russia’s periphery, coming after a political uprising in Belarus and renewed armed conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over disputed territory.

In a possible sign that a resolution to the Kyrgyz stalemate could be in the works, two rival candidates, Omurbek Babanov and Tilek Toktogaziyev, agreed on a power-sharing deal for the post of prime minister and were backed by four parties, local news website 24.kz reported Friday.

The capital, Bishkek, was rocked by protests that left hundreds injured on Monday after the majority of votes in Sunday’s elections went to parties allied with Jeenbekov amid accusations of vote-buying. Some opposition forces Tuesday even appointed their own ministers, including Sadyr Japarov for prime minister, but that was later deemed illegitimate. Meanwhile, a new date for the now-annulled parliamentary elections has not been set.

Vladimir Voronin

AP

People protest during a rally on the central square in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on Wednesday. Officials nullified the results of a weekend parliamentary election after mass protests erupted in the capital and other cities.

Alexander Bortnikov, the director of Russia’s Federal Security Service, or FSB, had a phone conversation with Kyrgyz Security Council Secretary Omurbek Suvanaliyev on Thursday, the Kremlin said, to discuss the unrest. But by Friday, the Kyrgyz State Committee for National Security issued a statement that Suvanaliyev had been removed from his post.

“The situation looks like a mess and chaos,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday, adding that Russia is “deeply concerned about the unfolding situation.”

The nation of about 6.5 million is strategically located between Russia and China in a region where Beijing and Moscow compete for geopolitical influence. It also hosts a Russian military base and a major Canadian-owned gold mine.

Kyrgyz security forces demanded on Thursday that all political parties sit down for talks and restore the rule of law, the State National Security Committee said on Thursday.

“Kyrgyz law enforcement agencies, security services and Armed Forces have urged all national political forces, in the interest of every Kyrgyzstani, to sit down at the negotiating table and to restore law and social stability in this country,” the statement said.

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Source:WP