BISHKEK (KYRGYZTAN) – Kyrgyz President Sooronbai Jeenbekov resigned on Thursday, after days of unrest following a disputed election.
Jeenbekov said he wanted clashes between security forces and protesters demanding his removal to stop, He became the third president of the small Central Asian nation since 2005 to be ousted through a popular uprising.
It was not immediately clear who would take control of the country. According to constitutional rules, the parliament speaker, Kanatbek Isayev, should assume the presidential powers.
Isayev said parliament would accept Jeenbekov’s resignation on Friday. However, he did not make his own stand clear.
In a statement announcing his resignation, Jeenbekov said he feared violence might erupt.
He said, “The military and security forces will be obliged to use their weapons to protect the state residence. Blood will be inevitably shed. I do not want to go down in Kyrgyzstan’s history as a president who shed blood and shot at his own citizens.”
Since the election, opposition supporters have seized government buildings, prompting the authorities to annul the vote.
Dastan Bekeshev, a lawmaker who supports neither Jeenbekov nor Japarov, told, “The president couldn’t hold out. He’s very weak. No spirit. It’s not clear what happens next, nobody can tell what is going to happen.”
Hundreds of Japarov’s supporters took to rallying on Thursday around 700 metres away from the presidential residence.
Felix Kulov, a former prime minister who met with Jeenbekov before his resignation, said on Facebook the president had not discussed anything about planning to quit.
Kulov said, “One thing is clear: some forces – I am sure sooner or later we will find out which ones – decided to seize power by force and made the president choose between resignation or an all-out war.”