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Killing of lawmaker: Kyrgyz demand PM’s resignation

BISHKEK: About 200 demonstrators rallied in the Kyrgyz capital on Saturday to demand the resignation of the ex-Soviet nation’s prime minister over the killing of a lawmaker during a prison visit.

The protesters said they would continue their action until Prime Minister Felix Kulov steps down, blaming his government for failing to prevent last week’s killings of parliament member Tynychbek Akmatbayev and two parliamentary aides at the Moldovanovka penitentiary.

Akmatbayev, who was looking into prisoners’ living conditions, was killed by an inmate, reportedly an underling of a crime boss who had a grievance with the lawmaker’s brother, Ryspek. Ryspek, however, has denied any links to the crime boss.

Akmatbayev is the third lawmaker to be killed since the March uprising that ousted longtime Kyrgyz President Askar Akayev. The new Kyrgyz leadership has been struggling to restore law and order after coming to power.

Kamchibek Tashiyev, a lawmaker, said that a group of parliament members was pushing for an emergency session to demand Kulov’s ouster on grounds of failing to properly oversee the nation’s prisons and maintain security in the country. Kulov, who was jailed for five years under Akayev, was freed during the uprising and was appointed prime minister by President Kurmanbek Bakiyev after July’s election.

Kulov on Saturday shrugged off demands for his resignation, saying he would only step down if the president and the parliament dismissed him, as required by law. “If the president and parliament find reasons for my resignation, I won’t object,” Kulov said. He rejected the protesters’ allegations that he was to blame for the lawmaker’s killing, and said the accusations against him were intended to destabilise the nation. “The people on the square are behaving illegally. Among them are many armed people,” Kulov told journalists in the capital Bishkek. “There are certain forces consciously trying to destroy our statehood.” Kulov said that the demonstrators were using the incident for ‘a settling of political scores’ and to stir up trouble.

“Among them are forces calling for a confrontation along religious lines, trying to use the Islamic factor. This will not be allowed. Someone wants to show there is no authority in the country,” he said. Most demonstrators were young men of athletic build. They erected traditional local tents, called yurts, and toilets. Free food was available. No police were visible.

Parliament was due to meet on Sunday to discuss the bloodshed at the prison and opposition lawmakers said they would also call for Kulov’s ouster. ap

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