Bishkek: Nationalist politician Sadyr Japarov became the new president of the Central Asian country of Kyrgyzstan on Thursday. Tell me, he has won a landslide victory in the recent presidential election. The country held elections in October last year after the ouster of Kyrgyz President Suronbai Jinbekov. Japarov was released from prison during the agitation to remove Suronbai from office.
The stalemate had been going on in the country since the disputed parliamentary elections. The government-backed parties won that election. Opposition parties have stated they will not run in the by-elections, but President Soronbai Jinbekov was forced to step down on October 15, accusing him of rigging the vote. Japarov was convicted of kidnapping a regional governor, after which he was jailed in 2017.
Immediately after his release, Japarov rallied supporters to oust President Suronbai Jinbekov and assume power as the country’s interim leader. In a referendum that followed the recent election, 81 percent of voters voted in favor of strengthening the presidency. Japarov had said that he would proceed with drafting the relevant constitutional changes, which would be approved by another referendum in a few months.
Adakhan Madumarov, one of Japarov’s 16 rivals, refused to accept his victory, claiming that the vote had been rigged. After the vote, Japarov pledged that Russia would remain the country’s main strategic partner. Explain that Kyrgyzstan became a separate country after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
