Legislators Force Out Kyrgyz Government

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan — The government of Kyrgyzstan resigned Monday after a majority of legislators accused their leaders of “intrigues” and forced a suspension of Parliament, the Itar-Tass news agency reported.

The resignation will bring the second government overhaul in less than a year in this Central Asian nation of 4 million people, which has one of the most prosperous economies among the former Soviet republics.

President Askar Akayev fired the previous Cabinet last December amid allegations that the prime minister and other top officials were embezzling gold reserves.

Akayev, elected unopposed in 1991 when Kyrgyzstan was part of the Soviet Union, said a new government would serve until parliamentary elections later this year, Itar-Tass said. No date was announced.

A group of 168 Parliament deputies announced they would boycott the final session of the 323-member assembly starting Sept. 27. That left the Parliament, the Kyrgyz Supreme Soviet, unable to act.

The lawmakers said the Parliament “has discredited itself in the eyes of the people (and) became involved in political intrigues,” according to the Interfax news agency.