The Kazakh Ministry of the Interior reports that some 200 protesters have been arrested in several cities for attacks on government buildings. In addition, according to the authorities, 95 police officers were injured. It is not yet clear how many protesters were injured.
‘Get out old man’
President Tokayev tried last night to appease the mood by partly reversing the price hikes for LPG, but many protesters have since demanded the resignation of the government. Last night in Telegram groups with protesters there were all rumours that that could happen today.
It also became clear that for many protesters, the protest went beyond their anger at LPG prices. In Almaty, where tear gas was used against protesters, among other things, slogans were heard such as “get out old man”. This refers to Tokaev’s predecessor and mentor Nazarbayev (81), an important ally of Russian President Putin.
Nazarbayev ruled the country from 1989 to 2019 as absolute ruler and appointed Tokaev as his successor at the end of his reign. He is currently chairman of the Security Council of Kazakhstan and in that role still exercises a lot of power in the background.
Fuel price regulated
Now that the government has resigned, Tokaev has appointed First Deputy Prime Minister Smaylov as interim prime minister. The rest of the cabinet will remain in office until a new government is formed. It is still unclear whether the protesters are satisfied with this resignation.
Tokaev has also announced that the government will regulate the prices of fuel and other products of “social importance”. He says himself that he sees the situation in Almaty and Mangistaw improving this morning. Whether that is really the case is unclear. The internet has been shut down in parts of the country.
Protests are rare in heavy-handed Kazakhstan, and demonstrations on this scale are even rarer. Every demonstration normally requires approval, but it is almost never given. Human rights activists have been sentenced to long prison terms in the country in recent years.
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