Kyrgyzstan Republic, a country in Central Asia is going through some crisis. After the parliamentary elections took place, numerous protests were carried out across the entire country. The reason was the opposition had accused the Government of rigging votes. Many government authorities and buildings were destroyed and it led to a lot of chaos amongst the citizens. In early October, the election was announced. The democracy rules of the country states that there should be a margin of at least 7% in votes to get into the parliamentary.
#Kyrgyzstan:
– Nationwide anti-election fraud protests
– Rival factions brawling in streets
– PM Sadyr Zhaparov resigned
– President Zheenbekov declared martial law in #Bishkek from 9 to 21 October
– Military deployed
– Neighbouring countries nervous
pic.twitter.com/nCbJJWpSSY— Anonymous (@YourAnonCentral) October 10, 2020
#Kyrgyzstan: Due to ongoing anti-election fraud protests that saw protestors take over the White House, the Central Election Commission annuls the results of the October 4 parliamentary elections. pic.twitter.com/kG4t0xGeM5
— Anonymous (@YourAnonCentral) October 6, 2020
Birimdik, which was recently formed took the lead with 24.5% followed by Mekenim and Kyrgyzstan Party. All of these were pro-government parties. Only Butun Kyrgyzstan from the opposition got in which raised a lot of suspicion. Politics in the country has never been well organized. The social democratic party of Kyrgyzstan is considered to be the major party but they did not participate in the elections. There have been fights and arguments seen between the founder and who is the current President.
How did the President react to the protests?
The protest got so severe that the president had to flee from the White House due to security concerns. No one knows his location for now but he has sent a video message stating that the opposition is planning out such violent activities in order to degrade the current government. On 6th October, the Prime Minister of the country, Mr. Kubatbek Boronov resigned from his position. He was not able to bear the stress because of the ongoing protests. Therefore, he said that he is resigning because he is not being able to help anyone even after being in a position of power. On 9th October, his resignation was accepted after which they have nominated Sadyr Japarov to take his position from Mekenchil Party. Many government officials resigned from their position after they started receiving death threats.
What is the reason for the protests in Kyrgyzstan?
The protesters are asking for the President to resign even though he still has three more years left. The president has declared a new state of emergency for a week as the Parliament did not approve of his previous order. The country has turned violent and you can hear a lot of gunshots everywhere. Armed forces and police officers are on duty trying to prevent any violent activities. This is one of the worst political crises that any country has faced to date. The elections are not scheduled to be re-held for now and a lot of activities have been put on hold. Therefore, this has led to economic downfall as well.
Now, the country shares a border between Russia and China. It also hosts Russia’s airbase and gold mining activities. The protest can lead to foreign policy challenge for the Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russia’s Vladimir Putin. The country also used to serve as a US base during the Afghan war. However, it was shut down in 2014. Russia also seems to be taking advantage of the situation and is trying to build the political party in Moscow stronger. On Saturday, Almazbek Atambayev, the ex-president got arrested. However, his supporters freed him after the poll. With issues like these amidst the pandemic, it now seems like 2020 is getting even worse.
