Less than a week ago, residents of Bishkek, the capital city of Kyrgyzstan, took to the streets to protest the conduct and results of parliamentary elections. President Sooronbay Jeenbekov went into hiding, but later announced that he was willing to annul the results of the elections and step down as the country’s leader.
What ensued was a power vacuum and a free-for-all among a dizzying array of political groupings - some established and some seemingly assembled on the fly. At duelling meetings held in various points across the capital, various groups put forward candidates for the position of interim prime minister, and coalitions rose and fell quickly.
By 8 October, two main groups had emerged from the political fog to seize control of the situation. One, drawn from among the main youth-led and Bishkek-based parties, supported the candidacy of Omurbek Babanov, a relatively young businessman, former PM, and former presidential candidate, who was to be seconded by Tilek Toktogaziev. a charismatic 29-year-old. The other group was led by Sadyr Japarov, a bare-knuckle nationalist politician who until a few days ago was serving a prison sentence for kidnapping a regional governor during a protest in 2013.
