Omurbek Babanov . Photo from Gov.kg
Kyrgyz politician Omurbek Babanov has left his post as leader of the Respublika Party, KaktusMedia reports (in Russian).
Following a vote, Mirlan Jeenchoroev was elected as the party’s new leader. His candidacy had been proposed by Babanov himself. Babanov said: “I would like to announce the end of my political activity. The time has come to hand the baton over to the next generation”.
Babanov has announced his withdrawal from politics once before, when he gave up his seat in the Jogorku Kenesh (parliament) following his defeat in the 2017 presidential elections. At the time he stated: “Dear fellow Kyrgyz, it is with full knowledge of the surrounding circumstances that I today announce my withdrawal from politics, including party activity”.
After the elections, a criminal case was filed against Babanov – according to the State Committee for National Security because in one of his speeches he had incited members of the ethnic Uzbek minority to clash with the authorities. The politician was accused of placing excessive emphasis on the violation of ethnic Uzbeks’ rights in a speech he made before them, in the aim of gaining their vote.
Babanov left the country after several more criminal charges were brought against him – as he himself recently stated, the total number of cases against him had reached eight. On 9 August 2019, the day after the arrest of former president Almazbek Atambaev, Babanov returned to Kyrgyzstan.
