Kazakhstan president sacks cabinet, declares state of emergency
Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has sacked his cabinet and declared a two-week state of emergency in the Central Asian nation’s biggest city Almaty and in the western Mangistau province where protests turned violent.
Tokayev said on Wednesday, that he had accepted the resignation of the cabinet led by Prime Minister Askar Mamin, and ordered the acting cabinet to reinstate price controls on Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG).
He also ordered the acting cabinet to broaden price controls to petrol, diesel and other socially important consumer goods.
Tokayev said that, “Calls to attack government and military offices are absolutely illegal.
“The government will not fall, but we want mutual trust and dialogue rather than conflict.”
The moves followed clashes in Almaty overnight between police and thousands of protesters who had called for the government’s resignation.
The move includes an 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. curfew, movement restrictions, and a ban on mass gatherings.
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Kamila/Reuters
