Fuel Price Protest Turns Into Clashes, Kazakhstan Government Resigns

Presiden Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. (Wikimedia Commons/Kremlin.ru/The Presidential Press and Information Office)

JAKARTA - Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev accepted the government's resignation on Wednesday, his office said, after rising fuel prices in the oil-rich Central Asian nation sparked protests in which nearly 100 police officers were injured.

Police used tear gas and stun grenades on Tuesday night to disperse hundreds of protesters out of the main square in Almaty, the largest city in the former Soviet republic, with clashes lasting for hours in nearby areas.

The protests have shaken the image of the former Soviet republic as a politically stable and tightly controlled country that has been used to attract hundreds of billions of dollars of foreign investment in the oil and metals industry during its three decades of independence, citing Reuters 5 January.

Speaking to acting cabinet members, Tokayev ordered them and the provincial government to restore control of LPG prices and extend them to gasoline, diesel, and other 'socially important' consumer goods.

He also ordered the government to develop personal bankruptcy laws, consider freezing utility prices, and subsidizing rent payments for poor families.

He previously said the situation was improving in protest-hit cities after the state of emergency was declared, including curfews and restrictions on movement.

To note, protests began in the western oil-producing province of Mangistau on Sunday, following the lifting of prices for liquefied petroleum gas, a popular car fuel, the day before, after which the price more than doubled.

President Tokayev later declared a state of emergency in Almaty and Mangistau, saying domestic and foreign provocateurs were behind the violence.

Separately, the Interior Ministry said apart from Almaty, government buildings were attacked in the southern cities of Shymkent and Taraz overnight, with 95 police officers injured in clashes. Police have detained more than 200 people.

Almaty Mayor Bakytzhan Sagintayev said in a speech to residents, the situation in the city was under control and security forces detained provocateurs and extremists.