Kyrgyzstani president accepts PM’s resignation, fires entire government
& promises to quit in near future
9 Oct, 2020 13:57
By Jonny Tickle
People attend a rally following post-election protests during which opposition groups took control of most of
the government's apparatus, in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, October 7, 2020. © REUTERS/Vladimir Pirogov
Kyrgyz President Sooronbay Jeenbekov has signed a decree in Bishkek to dissolve the entire government. He also accepted the resignation of premier Kubatbek Boronov. The decision follows days of unrest after disputed elections.
According to the decree, signed on Friday in the capital, members of the government will continue to serve until a new one is formed.
The resignation and dissolution come after protests and violence in the capital, following the disputed parliamentary elections, which took place on October 4. In the days following the vote, hundreds of people were injured in clashes with security forces, and demonstrators stormed the White House, the presidential office building. Protesters also secured the release from prison of Kyrgyzstan’s former President Almazbek Atambayev. On October 6, the Kyrgyzstani Central Election Committee invalidated the results of the parliamentary elections.
In an appeal to the nation, Kyrgyz President Jeenbekov announced on Friday morning that he himself is ready to resign, once he has completed the appointment of a new prime minister and government.
“I intend to legitimize the ongoing personnel changes,” Jeenbekov said. “After legitimate heads of executive authorities are approved, and the country heads along the path of legality, I am ready to leave the post of President of the Kyrgyz Republic.”
The future of Kyrgystan’s leadership is up in the air, with two distinct opposition groups creating their own coordinating councils. On the evening of October 6, the country’s parliament met in emergency session, and approved the candidacy of opposition figure Sadyr Zhaparov for prime minister. The selection was disputed by some opposition politicians, who intend to elect their own prime minister and have demanded the impeachment of President Jeenbekov.
On Friday afternoon, Jeenbekov announced that the country would enter a state of emergency, and military checkpoints would be set up around the capital.
The procedure for 'appointing' a new government may make this situation worse, rather than bringing a resolution.
Mali: French charity worker kidnapped in 2016 freed
By Darryl Coote
Sophie Petronin, 75, was kidnapped by jihadists in Mail on Christmas Eve, 2016.
Photo courtesy of The Malian presidential office /Facebook
Oct. 9 (UPI) -- The Malian presidential office said Sophie Petronin, a French charity worker who has been held hostage by armed Islamists in the West African country for nearly four years, has been released.
Petronin, 75, was kidnapped on Dec. 24, 2016, in the northern city of Gao, and was considered to be France's last hostage to be held by armed jihadists.
The president's office said in a tweet Friday that Soumaila Cisse, a Malian politician, was also released.
"The presidency of the republic confirms the release of Mr. Soumaila Cisse and Ms. Sophie Petronin," the tweet said, adding that the former hostages were on their way to the Malian capital of Bamako.
French President Emmanuel Macron said Friday that he had spoken with Petronin on the phone. "What a joy to have heard her voice and to know that she is safe now!" Macron said via Twitter. "I will welcome her when she returns to France tomorrow."
In an earlier tweet confirming Petronin's release, Macron thanked the Malian authorities for securing her freedom.
Along with Petronin and Cisse, two Italian nationals were also freed, the Mali government said.
Their release was part of a prisoner swap that included some 100 jihadists, the BBC reported.
Protests spread across Indonesia in opposition to omnibus jobs law
By Daniel Uria
into a third day on Thursday. Photo by Mast Irham/EPA-EFE
Indonesia is home to more Muslims than any other country in the world.
Oct. 8 (UPI) -- Tens of thousands of people in Indonesia took part in the third day of protests against a sweeping law cutting protections for workers and the environment.
Riot police fired tear gas and water cannons at protesters in the nation's capital, Jakarta, where authorities said they had detained more than 800 people as protesters defied a ban on gathering amid the COVID-19 pandemic and attempted to march on the presidential palace.
Protesters threw rocks at police and burned a police post and two transit stops, as leaders of a national strike said the violence was not affiliated with the labor action.
The protests were sparked by a 900-page omnibus bill amending more than 75 laws allowing companies to cut pay for workers, eliminate days off and hire contract workers.
It also relaxed environmental standards, only requiring businesses to file an environmental impact analysis for projects that are considered high risk.
The government said the law is designed to strengthen the economy amid negative impacts due to the pandemic by opening it to more foreign investment.
"We want to simplify the licensing and bureaucracy [process], we want speed, so a harmonization of law is needed to create speedy services, speedy policymaking so that Indonesia would be faster to respond to every world change," President Joko Widodo told the BBC.
A coalition of 15 activist groups, including trade unions, have opposed the bill and called on workers to join a national strike.
"It is staggering that while Indonesia is, like other countries, facing the devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic the government would seek to further destabilize people's lives and ruin their livelihoods so that foreign companies can extract wealth from the country," said Sharan Burrow, general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation.
Organizers said protests have been held in more than 60 locations and that about 1 million people have participated in walkouts each day.
The population of Indonesia is about 270 million.
Bahrain: Woman gets one-year prison sentence for offending Islam on social media
I guess this could be considered good news as
at least she wasn't stoned to death or sentenced to 10 years.
Published: October 09, 2020 18:47
Tawfiq Nasrallah, Staff Writer, Gulf News
Dubai: A woman in Bahrain has been sentenced to one year in jail after being convicted of offending Islam and denigrating its rituals, Chief Prosecutor Nasser Ibrahim Al Sheeb announced.
In details, the Public Prosecution received a report from the Anti-Cyber Crime Directorate detecting an account on the social networking website, Twitter, in which its owner posted tweets offending Islam and disdaining its rituals.
The Public Prosecution launched an investigation into the incident and interrogated the woman who admitted to the charges levelled at her. It ordered to remand her in custody pending investigation and refer her to the Lower Criminal Court which issued the afore-mentioned verdict.
See my new column for child sexual abuse in Pakistan and other sub-continent countries:
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