Kyrgyz president must appoint faction to form new govt, coalition - faction leader
BISHKEK. March 18 (Interfax) - The faction of the Kyrgyz Ata-Meken (Fatherland) party has withdrawn from the ruling coalition.
The decision to withdraw from the ruling coalition was made by a majority of votes at the faction's Tuesday session.
The coalition also included the Social Democratic Party of Kyrgyzstan and Ar Namys (Dignity), which formed the country's current government.
The break-up of the ruling coalition following Ata Meken's withdrawal means the government is automatically considered as having resigned and performing its functions until a new Cabinet is formed, which will only happen if a new coalition is formed in the house, parliamentary experts told Interfax.
"This government has no future, and since we too are responsible for its work, we have decided to be first to withdraw from the ruling coalition," Ata Meken faction leader Omurbek Tekebaev told reporters on Tuesday.
"Besides, we were not happy about the work of this Cabinet of Ministers, especially on a new agreement with the Canadians over the development of the gold mine in Kumtor, the socioeconomic situation in the country, allowing the crime lord Aziz Batukaev leave the country, and the activity of Prime Minister Jantoro Satybaldiev personally as the head of the State Directorate for Restoration of the cities of Osh and Jalal-Abad," the faction leader said.
The parliamentary commission has already presented to the Prosecutor General's Office the results of its inquiry into the State Directorate's activities and violations identified in the construction work and financial discipline, "but it (the prosecutor's office) is not reacting," Tekebaev said.
Ata Meken Party holds four ministerial portfolios in the current government.
"The country's president, Almazbek Atambayev, has five working days to choose a faction which he'll instruct to form a new coalition majority," Tekebayev said.
Meanwhile, there has been behind-the-scenes talk in parliament that Ata Meken is hoping to get the right to form a coalition.
