The Parliament of Kyrgyzstan during an extraordinary meeting approved the candidacy of Sadyr Japarov for the post of Prime Minister of the country.
Deputies of the Jogorku Kenesh (parliament) also unanimously approved the structure, program and composition of the new government.
President Sooronbai Jeenbekov has already signed a decree on the appointment of the Prime Minister and members of the government.
Thus, all the necessary formalities for the approval of the Cabinet were observed.
Now, new parliamentary elections are to be held in the country, since on October 6, the CEC officially recognized the October 4 vote as invalid.
It is reported that large-scale reshuffles were made in the composition of the Cabinet.
In particular, almost all deputy prime ministers were dismissed.
Only Aida Ismailova retained her post.
In addition, the ministers of economy, agriculture and food industry, as well as the head of the Ministry of Justice, remained in their posts.
At the same time, a number of new ministers previously had experience in government.
For example, Artyom Novikov, who was appointed to the post of First Deputy Prime Minister in 2017-2018, was the Minister of Economy and three times advisor to the Prime Ministers, and the new Foreign Minister Ruslan Kazakbayev held the same position from 2010 to 2012.
Sadyr Japarov
© Tabyldy Kadyrbekov / Sputnik / RIA Novosti
By the way, Kazakbaev has already managed to make the first official statement on the republic’s foreign policy after the government’s approval.
According to him, relations between Kyrgyzstan and the Russian Federation will not change.
“Russia is our main strategic partner, and, of course, our relations will develop in the spirit of mutually beneficial cooperation,” Kazakbayev said.
October crisis
The political crisis in Kyrgyzstan began after the October 4 parliamentary elections.
According to the preliminary voting results, only four parties were able to enter the Jogorku Kenesh: the pro-government Unity (Birimdik) and Native Kyrgyzstan (Mekenim Kyrgyzstan), which gained 24.52% and 23.89% of the votes, respectively, and also the centrist parties "Kyrgyzstan" and "United Kyrgyzstan" (8.73% and 7.11%).
The day after the vote, protesters took to the streets, dissatisfied with its outcome.
The protests escalated into clashes with law enforcement officers.
The opposition demanded to hold new elections, release the ex-president of the republic, Almazbek Atambayev, who was sentenced in June 2020 to 11 years and two months in prison.
In addition, the protesters were in favor of Jeenbekov's resignation.
Soon Atambayev was released from the pre-trial detention center.
Together with him, Sadyr Zhaparov, who was appointed Prime Minister today, was also released.
Even under Atambayev, he was sentenced to 11 years and six months for taking hostage at a protest in 2013 by the plenipotentiary representative of the government in the Issyk-Kul region, Emilbek Kaptagaev.
After his release, Atambayev actually became one of the leaders of the protest.
On October 9, the politician announced that an attempt had been made on his life.
On October 10, Atambayev was detained by law enforcement agencies and again placed in custody.
While in prison, Atambayev on October 12, with the help of his lawyers, published a message on Facebook, in which he harshly criticized the current leadership of Kyrgyzstan.
He accused Jeenbekov, who actually succeeded him in 2017, of resuming the practice of family and clan rule, characteristic of the previously ousted presidents Askar Akayev and Kurmanbek Bakiyev.
Rally on the Old Square in Bishkek in support of Sadyr Japarov and demanding the resignation of President of Kyrgyzstan Sooronbai Jeenbekov
© Alexey Maishev / RIA Novosti
“In 2017, Sooronbai Jeenbekov was elected president of the country.
He, like Bakiev, publicly vowed that he would not allow family and clan rule, would not allow his relatives to power, and would fight corruption.
Less than a year later, the rule of the Jeenbekovs and Matraimovs clan began to be established in the country, ”Atambayev wrote.
According to him, after the last elections, three parties (Birimdik, Mekenim Kyrgyzstan and Kyrgyzstan), associated with the clan of President Jeenbekov, won more than 100 out of 120 seats in parliament.
Atambayev also complained that divisions in the opposition camp allowed Jeenbekov to stop the protests and strengthen his position.
Indeed, the situation in the capital of the country has stabilized in recent days.
On October 11, the Bishkek commandant's office reported that the situation in the city was "controlled by law enforcement officials and military personnel."
And on October 12, the building of the Kyrgyz parliament, previously seized by protesters, was returned to the jurisdiction of the authorities.
At the same time, on October 13, Atambayev announced his support for Sadyr Japarov.
“To prevent the complete return to power of the Jeenbekov and Matraimov clan, today we must support Prime Minister Sadyr Japarov until the new parliament elects a prime minister again,” he wrote.
At the same time, he urged the current president to resign.
Earlier, Jeenbekov himself said that he was ready to leave his post when the situation in the country normalizes.
“As soon as the country takes the path of legality, it is ready to leave the post of President of Kyrgyzstan,” Jeenbekov said in a statement released by his press service.
Sadyr Japarov, after his appointment as prime minister, also announced that Jeenbekov should leave the presidency.
“In my opinion, we should return to the first agreement, when he said that he would return everything to the legal channel and then resign.
This is not my demand, this is the demand of the people.
The people demanded that the president resign.
We held negotiations, there were also deputies.
The president said that he would resign within three days.
We told the people, he will leave, disperse.
But it's been ten days already, ”Japarov said.
According to him, there is no alternative to the president's resignation.
In turn, Jeenbekov, at a meeting with the new prime minister, said that he now had no right to leave the presidency, as this would lead to an unpredictable scenario of events and could harm the country, the press service of the head of state said.
They also noted that Jeenbekov is ready to resign, but only after the parliamentary elections and the appointment of presidential elections.
"Compromise figure"
According to experts, Sadyr Japarov is a fairly “compromise figure” in the context of the old confrontation between northern and southern Kyrgyz political clans.
Let us remind you that historically there have been difficult relations between the northern and southern regions in Kyrgyzstan.
This conflict is reflected in the modern political life of the country.
So, Atambayev is considered a northerner, and Jeenbekov is a southerner.
President Sooronbai Jeenbekov and ex-President Almazbek Atambayev at Jeenbekov's inauguration in 2017
© Press service of the President of Kyrgyzstan
“By origin, Japarov is a northerner, but he has stable ties with the southern Kyrgyz clans.
And in the current situation, when none of the parties to the conflict was able to achieve their goal, a compromise must be sought.
It may not be very durable, but this is better than the continuation of anarchy, "Azhdar Kurtov, editor of the Problems of National Strategy magazine at the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies, said in an interview with RT.
According to him, now much will depend on whether the new elections will be held as the opposition demands and what the authorities have agreed to.
“New elections were promised and they should be held, but it depends on Jeenbekov.
If he is consistent, does not try to keep his post at all costs, then he will go to new elections.
But Jeenbekov may feel that he has won this conflict, since the situation has more or less calmed down.
In this case, he may refuse to hold elections, which is unlikely to please the opposition, ”the expert says.
At the same time, Kurtov stressed that it is still far from the resolution of the conflict - at any moment it could flare up again.
“The acute phase of the political crisis has passed.
But the internal reasons have not disappeared.
The population is dissatisfied with the policy pursued by the authorities, the difficult social situation in the country.
The clan struggle also did not go away.
At any opportunity, and such cases in Kyrgyzstan arise with the holding of parliamentary or presidential elections, the situation may repeat itself, "he said.
Dmitry Orlov, general director of the Bishkek analytical center "East-West Strategy", adheres to a similar point of view.
“There is still a long way to the stabilization of the situation, because Japarov promised that Jeenbekov would resign.
And at the moment, as far as I know, negotiations are underway on this topic, respectively, supporters of Japarov and supporters of Jeenbekov are gathering, rallies are being prepared, "the analyst said in an interview with RT.
At the same time, experts agreed that the current events in Kyrgyzstan will not affect its foreign policy towards Russia.
“I think that the new leadership of the country will continue the allied policy towards the Russian Federation.
Now all the forces involved in the conflict are well disposed towards Moscow.
Moreover, Russia is not a participant in these internal squabbles, ”explained Kurtov.
In turn, Dmitry Orlov recalled that Russia is not only an important economic partner of Kyrgyzstan, but also a guarantor of its security as a member of the CSTO.
“No government will take any explicit anti-Russian actions, because there is a serious economic dependence on Russia.
In addition, one should not forget that Russia remains the only guarantor of Kyrgyzstan's security within the CSTO.
Therefore, any politician in the power structures who starts saying something against Russia will be a potential political suicide, ”the expert concluded.