Kyrgyzstan’s president steps down amid political unrest

Kyrgyzstan’s president, Sooronbay Jeenbekov, has resigned after violent protests erupted over parliamentary election results, saying he had no desire to go down in history as a man who brought bloodshed to his country.

The central Asian country has been in crisis since the start of the month when parties loyal to Jeenbekov won a parliamentary election that the opposition said was tainted by vote-buying.

Clashes between protesters and police in the capital, Bishkek, left at least one dead and more than 1,000 injured. Demonstrators stormed government buildings and freed from jail the opposition lawmaker Sadyr Japarov, who was later appointed by Jeenbekov as prime minister in an attempt to quell the unrest.

Jeenbekov also offered to step down once new parliamentary elections could be held, but protesters continued to demand his immediate resignation.

“I am not clinging to power,” he said in a statement on Thursday. “I do not want to go down in the history of Kyrgyzstan as a president who allowed bloodshed and shooting on its people. I have taken the decision to resign.”

He added: “For me, peace in Kyrgyzstan, the country’s integrity, the unity of our people and calm in society are more important than anything else. Military personnel and law enforcement agencies are obliged to use weapons to protect the residence of the head of state. In this case, blood will be shed. It is inevitable. I urge both sides not to succumb to provocations.”

Jeenbekov kept a low profile in the first few days after the vote, to the extent that some were left wondering who was actually running the country. He introduced a state of emergency in the capital that was endorsed on Tuesday by parliament.

Authorities deployed troops to Bishkek over the weekend and introduced a curfew. The move eased tensions in the city, where residents, fearing a repeat of looting that had accompanied previous uprisings, began forming vigilante groups to protect property. Shops and banks that were closed last week have reopened.

Kyrgyzstan has been dogged by political volatility for much of its three decades of independence. A landlocked republic of 6.5 million people, three of its presidents have now been unseated by unrest since gaining independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

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Protesters storm Kyrgyzstan’s parliament building in Bishkek – video

The chaos has worried its ally Russia, with post-election protests also rocking Belarus and clashes continuing over the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan.

Vladimir Putin’s deputy chief of staff, Dmitry Kozak, flew in for talks with Jeenbekov and Japarov this week, with Moscow emphasising that the chaos must be brought to an end.

Jeenbekov came to power in 2017 as the handpicked successor of the previous president, Almazbek Atambayev, who reportedly expected to be able to control him and continue to rule from behind the scenes. But the new president turned on his former mentor, who was arrested and sentenced to 11 years in prison in June. Atambayev was freed by protesters this month but later rearrested.