Kyrgyz Prime Minister Azim Isabekov submitted his resignation on Thursday to "preserve the stability of the country," according to his press office. President Kurmanbek Bakiyev accepted Isabekov's departure and immediately appointed opposition figure Almaz Atambayev as acting prime minister, the presidential press service announced.

 

"The Cabinet shall be formed as a government enjoying credibility with all of the country's leading political forces, or their majority. Isabekov stepped down in order to create an opportunity to form such a government," the Itar-Tass news agency quoted President Bakiyev as saying.

 

Following Atambayev's nomination, Bakiyev delivered it to the Parliament for its consideration and approval.

 

Atambayev, head of the Social Democratic Party, doubles up as a leader of the For Reform movement, responsible for important protests through the streets of Bishkek in the last year.

 

Bakiyev further dismissed five senior officials from their posts and solicited input from across the political spectrum ahead of nominating their replacements.

 

"This is a step towards the formation of a coalition government," the Russian Interfax news agency quoted Isabekov as saying. "The government wants to take in new forces and new people, and add new blood to its ranks and to take the opinion of the opposition into account."

 

The five who left their posts were First Deputy Prime Minister Daniyar Usenov, Chief of Government Staff Tanychbek Tabaldiyev, Emergencies Minister Janysh Rustenbekov, Health Minister Shayloobek Niyazov and Economic Development and Trade Minister Sabyrbek Moldokulov, a cabinet official revealed.

 

These sweeping changes have come as the president faces repeated claims that his government has failed to fight corruption or to tackle a rising crime rate in the Central Asian nation.

 

On Monday, Kyrgyzstan's opposition groups renewed attacks on the beleaguered Bakiyev, vowing to forge ahead with planned rallies and to call for early elections despite his ongoing pledges of real reform.

 

Kyrgyzstan, a Central Asian nation with a population of 5 million, has been mired in political dispute since Bakiyev took office in 2005 after a wave of violent protests ousted his long-serving predecessor Askar Akayev.

 

(Xinhua News Agency March 30, 2007)