Leader resigns after big protests

MOSCOW — Kyrgyzstan’s embattled president said Thursday he was resigning after protests over a disputed parliamentary election, the third time in 15 years that a leader of the Central Asian country has been ousted by a popular uprising.

Protesters in the capital of Bishkek celebrated the decision by President Sooronbai Jeenbekov, but it’s not clear whether it will quell the unrest that has gripped the country since last week. The demonstrators quickly demanded that parliament be dissolved and that its speaker, who is next in the order of succession, also resign.

Jeenbekov, who came under pressure to step down from the protests and some opposition politicians including the new prime minister, had dismissed calls to resign only a day earlier. But in a statement released by his office, he said that he feared violence if he stayed in power, noting that protesters were facing off against the police and the military.

“In this case, blood will be shed. It is inevitable,” the statement said. “I don’t want to go down in history as a president who shed blood and shot at his own citizens.”

Parliament must officially approve his resignation, and Speaker Kanat Isayev, who was appointed earlier this week, told local media it would meet Friday to consider it.

The country of 6.5 million people on the border with China was plunged into chaos following an Oct. 4 parliamentary election whose results a victory for progovernment parties. The opposition said the balloting was tainted by votebuying and other irregularities.