Kyrgyzstan premier announces run for presidency

Prime Minister Sooronbay Jeenbekov stepped down Monday to clear the way to run for the presidency in October.

Jeenbekov, who has been prime minister since April 2016, announced his resignation in a Cabinet meeting and later submitted it to President Almazbek Atambayev.

The 58-year-old will stand for the Social Democratic Party of Kyrgyzstan (SDPK) in the Oct. 15 election, the winner of which will replace Atambayev on Dec. 1 for a six-year term.

The SDPK is closely linked to Atambayev, who was previously prime minister before his October 2011 election.

Despite being relatively stable, Kyrgyzstan has experienced periods of volatility since it gained independence from the Soviet Union.

In 2005 and 2010, the then presidents were deposed in violent protests that left hundreds dead.

Ahead of this year’s poll, 59 candidates have come forward, including two other former premiers. The deadline for candidate submissions is Sept. 5.

Although not all candidates are expected to stand, the vote is still expected to go to a second round as no-one seems likely to secure more than half of the vote in the first round.

Most of Kyrgyzstan’s six million people are Turkic-speaking Muslims and the north and south of the country are divided by wealth and ethnic divisions.