Status: 05.01.2022 4:29 a.m.
The Kazakh government has resigned after sustained violent protests against an increase in gas prices. A state of emergency was previously declared in the country. In Almaty, the police took action against thousands of demonstrators.
After violent protests in Kazakhstan, the government closed down to resign. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev accepted the request, informed his office. Tokayev appointed Alikhan Smailov, the previous first deputy prime minister, as incumbent head of government. The government’s move followed violent riots over a significant rise in the price of LPG, which resulted in a state of emergency in the country.
As stated on the website of President Kassym-Schomart Tokayev, night curfews were imposed in the economic metropolis of Almaty in the south-east and the resource-rich region of Mangystau in the west of the Central Asian country.
The police had previously used stun grenades and tear gas against thousands of demonstrators in Almaty. AFP journalists counted at least 5,000 participants in the protests in Almaty on Tuesday. Protesters attacked vehicles, including a fire engine. Several demonstrators and police officers were hospitalized with apparently minor injuries.
Message apps like Telegram, Signal or Whatsapp no longer worked. Two independent news sites on the Internet were blocked.
Kazakhstan: Government resigned after violent protests
Morning magazine, 5.1.2022
Government made concessions
The demonstrations against high gas prices began at the weekend in Schangaösen in the center of the western Mangystau region. On Monday evening there were also protests in the city of Aktau on the Caspian Sea. On Tuesday evening, the authorities announced that they would cut gas prices in Mangystau significantly.
Tokayev justified this concession on Twitter by saying that it was about “ensuring stability in the country”. In a video posted online, Tokayev called for an end to the protests. “Do not react to the provocations from abroad and from the interior,” he said in it. “Do not respond to calls to storm official buildings. This is a crime for which you will be punished.”
He also announced that a government commission had started its work to find a solution that was “acceptable to all sides”.
President Tokayev has been in office since 2019. He is the successor to long-time head of state Nursultan Nazarbayev, who had ruled Kazakhstan since 1989. The 81-year-old Nazarbayev continues to control the country’s politics as the “leader of the nation”. The title grants him extensive privileges and immunity from prosecution.