THE TELEGRAPH: Kyrgyzstan's new self-proclaimed leader has dissolved the country's parliament as she moved to consolidate power following a bloody revolution on Wednesday that left at least 68 people dead.
Roza Otunbayeva, a former foreign minister turned opposition leader, told a press conference she would rule for six months before calling new elections.
Mrs Otunbayeva promised free and fair elections in half a year and said she would move the country towards genuine democracy.
"Maybe it was a people's revolution, maybe a people's revolt, or maybe it was a people's rebuff," she said of Wednesday's bloody events. "Whatever it was, we want to say no to tyranny and want to build democracy." She blamed the old regime led by President Kurmanbek Bakiyev for the bloodshed.
"It was the authorities' responsibility. It was a response to their repression, tyranny and aggression." According to the latest figures from the country's health ministry, at least 68 people died and more than 500 were wounded when opposition supporters fought pitched battles with riot police in Bishkek, the capital, and in other towns across the Central Asian country on Wednesday. Analysts said people were angered by the ousted government's corruption, increasingly repressive measures and recent price hikes for basic utilities.
Mrs Otunbayeva said that President Bakiyev had fled the capital to the southern region of Jalal-Abad in a desperate attempt to regroup. She complained that Mr Bakiyev was refusing to formally resign and was trying instead to rally support. But she said his political career was finished and that a decree stripping him of his powers had already been published.
"We want to negotiate his resignation," she said. "His business here is over." >>> Andrew Osborn in Moscow | Thursday, April 08, 2010
Related:
THE TELEGRAPH: Street Battles Leave Kyrgyzstan on Brink of Revolution >>> Andrew Osborn in Moscow | Wednesday, April 07, 2010
