Kyrgyz PM to resign to run for president

Sat Sep 24, 2011

Kyrgyz Prime Minister Almazbek Atambayev has announced that he plans to resign in order to run for president.

On Friday, Atambayev said that he would hand his duties over to Deputy Prime Minister Omurbek Babanov to run in the October 30 presidential election, the Associated Press reported.

Atambayev's main challenger seems to be Ata-Zhurt nationalist party leader Kamchibek Tashiyev, who served as a minister under former President Kurmanbek Bakiyev.

Bakiyev was unseated in a popular uprising in April 2010.

“Our government has been working for nine months and three days. In this time, we have seen a trend of economic growth, which is also an indicator of our efforts,” Atambayev said.

Candidates must win more than 50 percent of the vote in October's election to avoid a runoff between the top two vote-getters.

The Kyrgyz presidential campaign is being watched by the international community, and especially the United States and Russia, which both have strategically important air bases in the country.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.com/detail/200847.html.