A fire is raging in the president’s residence while the building of the mayor’s office is ablaze from the first to the last floor. Clashes with police are being observed in the area of the mayor’s office. The law-enforcement agencies are using stun grenades. Loud gunfire is also heard at the president’s residence.
On January 2, crowds took to the streets in the cities of Zhanaozen and Aktau in the Mangistau region in the country’s southwest, protesting against fuel price hikes. Two days later, riots erupted in Almaty (the country’s southeast) where police used stun grenades to disperse crowds and also in other cities, in particular, in Atyrau and Aktobe (the west), Uralsk (the northwest), Taraz, Shymkent and Kyzylorda (the south), Karaganda (the northeast) and even in Nur-Sultan, TSS news agency reported.
Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has declared a state of emergency in the Mangistau and Almaty regions and also in Almaty and Nur-Sultan for two weeks. On January 5, the head of the Kazakh state dismissed the government. Its members continue discharging their duties until a new Cabinet is approved.
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on Wednesday accepted the resignation of the country’s government, which will continue performing its duties until a new cabinet of ministers is formed.
He signed a decree on the resignation of the government after a wave of protests swept the nation amid outrage regarding the rising cost of liquified petroleum gas, Sputnik reported.
The document marks the resignation effective immediately but instructs members of the government to continue to fulfill their duties until the approval of a new cabinet. First Deputy Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov was appointed to serve as acting prime minister in the interim.
MA/PR
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