State of emergency in Kazakhstan’s protest-hit Mangistau, Almaty; cabinet resignation accepted

President Tokayev

NUR-SULTAN: Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has signed decrees imposing a two-week state of emergency in the Central Asian nation’s biggest city Almaty and in the western Mangistau province where protests over rising fuel prices that began on Sunday turned violent.

“Due to the escalation of situation, the Head of State signed the decrees on imposing the state of emergency in Mangistau region and Almaty city from 1:30 a.m. on January 5 until 00:00 January 19 to ensure public order, restore the rule of law, and protect the rights and freedoms of the citizens of Kazakhstan,” the statement carried by KAZINFORM news agency said, quoting the Akorda press service.

Tokayev said that  the government would again cap the L.P.G. price at 50 tenge ($0.11) per liter, less than half the current market price. The L.P.G. is a low-carbon fuel that many Kazakhs use to power their cars.

“The Government of Kazakhstan decided to reduce the liquefied gas price to KZT 50 per liter within the powers given to provide stability in the country,” he said and urged demonstrators “not to follow calls by destructive people interested in destructing stability and unity of our society”

Other socioeconomic requirements will also be considered during the working meeting slated for Wednesday, the Twitter account of the Head of State said.

According to KAZINFORM, Tokayev accepted the resignation of the Kazakh Government and to temporarily assign the duties of the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan to Alikhan Smailov.