Zairbek Bakytbaev is the chief editor of RFE/RL Kyrgyz Service in Bishkek.
Kyrgyz Prime Minister Akylbek Japarov submitted his resignation on December 16 amid an unfolding scandal surrounding the detention of senior officials from the State Tax Service.
Former Kyrgyz President Roza Otunbaeva spoke to RFE/RL on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the bloody ethnic fighting that broke out in southern Kyrgyzstan in June 2010, discussing the reasons behind the deadly clashes and prospects for a peaceful future between ethnic Uzbeks and Kyrgyz.
The Kyrgyz parliament is calling for the ouster of nearly a dozen high-ranking officials who they say orchestrated the release of a Chechen criminal boss from jail. Aziz Batukaev was freed from Naryn prison and flown to Chechnya in April after Kyrgyz officials ruled he was suffering from leukemia and required urgent medical treatment. But Kyrgyz lawmakers now say Batukaev's illness was a ruse, and have presented pictures of the crime boss smoking and enjoying a sumptuous meal while in prison.
Kyrgyzstan's Ar-Namys political party has debuted new posters and banners ahead of local elections later this month. But the new design, which bears a striking resemblance to the white-blue-and-red pattern of the Russian flag, is drawing fire in Bishkek.
The young and charismatic Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan has just lost his job after his coalition government collapsed this week. Omurbek Babanov's opponents have long been accusing him of corruption and links with shady business organizations. However, a new scandal surrounding the purchase of a thoroughbred horse seems to have finally put paid to the prime minister's career.
