President of Kyrgyzstan, Sooronbay Jeenbekov has declared his resignation after caving in to pressure by protesters.
Sooronbay Jeenbekov said his decision to step down was because he respected the will of the people and he doesn’t want to cling to power.
Said Jeenbekov in a statement on his website “I do not cling to power. I do not wish to go down in Kyrgyzstan’s history as a president who shed blood and shot at his own citizens. For this reason, I have made a decision to resign,”
“Nothing is more precious to me that the life of each fellow citizen,”
Jeenbekov said the clashes between the protesters and the law enforcers was about to escalate into a full blown war.
He then asked Prime Minister Sadyr Japarov and other politicians to persuade their supporters to leave the country’s capital, so that it doesn’t end in bloodshed and loss of life .
“Regrettably, the aggression continues unabated and demands for my resignation are still there. The current situation is close to a bilateral conflict. On the one hand, there are the protesters, and on the other, the law enforcement agencies. Servicemen and law enforcers are obliged to use weapons to protect the state residence. In this case there will be bloodshed. It is inevitable. I am calling upon both parties to avoid yielding to provocations.”
Jeenbekov had only been the president Kyrgyzstan for just three years.
He was elected into power on October 15, 2017.
The Kyrgyzstan protests started on the 4th of October this year after pro-government parties won the elections.
The opposition and protesters refused to accept the results and claimed the election was rigged by vote buying and other irregularities.
Ever since, Kyrgyzstan has been plunged into chaos, including spates of violence, vandalism and looting.