Amid protests, Kyrgyz leader declares a state of emergency
MOSCOW — The embattled president of Kyrgyzstan ordered a nearly two-week state of emergency Friday in the capital in a bid to end turmoil sparked by a disputed parliamentary election as clashes between rival factions escalated and gunshots were fired at several political leaders.
President Sooronbai Jeenbekov decreed that the state of emergency, from 8 p.m. Friday through 8 a.m. on Oct. 21, could include a curfew and travel restrictions. He also ordered the military to deploy troops to Bishkek, the capital, to enforce the measure.
“We are witnessing a real threat to the existence of our state,” Jeenbekov said in a statement. “The peaceful life of our citizens mustn’t be sacrificed to political passions.”
Bowing to pressure from the street, Jeenbekov earlier Friday formally dismissed the prime minister, the head of the armed forces and the country’s security chief.
Convoys of military trucks were seen driving into the city, but it wasn’t immediately clear whether police and the military would comply with the presidential order.
Jeenbekov has faced calls to step down from hundreds of protesters who stormed government buildings the night after Sunday’s parliamentary vote was reportedly swept by pro-government parties. The demonstrators also freed former President Almazbek Atambayev, who was sentenced to 11 years in prison in June on charges of corruption and abuse of office that he and his supporters described as a political vendetta by Jeenbekov.
The turmoil marks a third time in 15 years that protesters have moved to topple a government in Kyrgyzstan, a Central Asian nation of 6.5 million that is one of the poorest to emerge from the former Soviet Union.
After an initial attempt to break up protesters immediately after the vote, police have pulled back and refrained from intervening with the demonstrations. Residents of the capital began forming vigilante groups to prevent looting that marked previous uprisings in the country.
Under pressure from protesters, the Central Election Commission has overturned the parliamentary vote results and protest leaders have moved quickly to form a new government. An emergency parliament session on Tuesday named lawmaker Sadyr Zhaparov as a new prime minister, but the move was immediately contested by other protest groups, plunging the country into chaos.
Atambayev spoke to demonstrators who flooded central Bishkek on Friday, urging them to refrain from violence.
“I’m against using force, everything should be done by peaceful means,” he said.
Jeenbekov, who hunkered down for days after the vote, used the infighting between his foes to dig in. He said Thursday he may consider stepping down, but only after the political situation stabilizes.