The government of Kazakhstan fell today amid violent protests against rising fuel prices. After massive protests stormed the Central Asian nation protesting against the skyrocketing costs of Liquified Petroleum Gas, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed a decree accepting the resignation of the Government led by PM Askar Mamin on January 5. A wave of violent agitations has spread across the nation over LPG prices, where hundreds of protesters and cops were injured.
Following the situation, President Tokayev tried to stabilize the situation. He accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Askar Mamin. The resignation decree orders current members of the government to officially hold their posts until a new cabinet is approved. The country’s First Deputy Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov was appointed to serve as acting prime minister in the interim government. Tokayev has imposed an emergency in the capital city of Nur-Sultan, Almaty, and in the Mangystau province until January 19.
The protests started in the country after the government lifted price controls on Liquefied Petroleum Gas at the start of the year. With no govt control over the prices, the LPG prices more than doubled in the oil-producing western province of Mangistau on January 2, which hit the Kazakhs hard suddenly. Reportedly, a large number of people in the country have converted their cars to run on LPG as it is cheaper.
Clashes erupted within a night in the city of Almaty, with protestors marching along roads leading to the city centre. While police tried to control the situation using tear gas and grenades, over 200 people were detained and 100 policemen were injured on late Tuesday. According to the Local media in Kazakhstan, some buildings were put on fire and administrative buildings were being targeted. Kazakhstan’s business lobby group, Atameken reported cases of attacks on banks, stores and restaurants.
President Tokayev ordered the interim govt and provincial governors to reinstate price controls on LPG to end the protests. He also ordered to broaden price control on other petroleum products like gasoline, diesel and other “socially important” consumer goods. The president further ordered the government to develop a personal bankruptcy law and consider freezing prices of utilities, and subsidizing rent payments for poor families.
President Tokayev announced on Twitter that the new government so formed will function with the restricted powers assigned to them and has decided to reduce the price for liquefied gas in the Mangistau region to 50 tenges (Rs. 8.53) per litre.
Правительство в рамках данных ему полномочий в целях обеспечения стабильности в стране приняло решение снизить в Мангистауской области цену за сжиженный газ до 50 тенге за литр.
— Qasym-Jomart Toqayev (@TokayevKZ) January 4, 2022
The President informed that the situation was improving in protest-hit cities and towns, including Almaty and the surrounding province, where the authorities have declared a state of emergency with a curfew and movement restrictions.
Protests are a common sight in the ex-soviet country while it tightly controls its image of political stability for foreign investment. The initial cause of the unrest was a spike in prices for LPG in the rich province of Mangystau. The protestors were also seen hooting “Old Man Out” with a reference to ex-President Nazarbayev who is 81. Nazarbayev chose Tokayev was his successor while he still retain much control over politics in the country.
