Kyrgyzstan President Accepts PMs Resignation Amid Corruption Allegations

Kyrgyzstan Prime Minister Temir Sariyev resigned Monday amid allegations of corruption involving a road construction project in ex-Soviet nation. President Almazbek Atanbayev quickly accepted the PMs resignation.

PM Sariyev decided to step down after serving the office for less than a year to "preserve stability in the country." Sariyev is currently facing allegations of corruptions where he allegedly personally profited from the $100 million road construction project, as claimed by his critics, including Transport Minister Argynbek Malabayev. The prime minister's resignation comes two days before a parliamentary commission was to present the result of its investigation concerning the road construction project that was marred by allegations of graft.

Transport Minister Malabayev claimed that his deputy had come with the prime minister's team to get the interest of the Long Hai company that won the bid.

Prime Minister Sariyev denied the accusations of corruption against him and that his critics failed to prove their claims. The office has yet to announce who will replace the resigned PM.

Sariyev is the 28^th prime minister to serve the Central Asian nation ever since it became independent in 1991. Since then, Kyrgyzstan had two presidents driven out by violent protests. He was also a presidential candidate for the 2009 elections where he received 157,005 votes.

Sariyev's case is not the first one in terms of corruption in the office. Last July 22, 2015, the police arrested the head of the president's office, Daniyar Narymbaev, who was charged with fraud. Narymbaev's arrest was done because of allegations that ex-Bishkek Mayor Nariman Tyuleev's relatives were trying to bribe Narymbaev $100,000 in exchange for an easier and favoral review of Tyuleev's corruption case.

Kyrgyzstan is still battling with corruption up to date. Graft and corruption is still rampant despite government's efforts and anti-corruption campaigns. According to analysts, the government's failure to fight this problem is due to two primary factors: it is unable to reverse longstanding public trust for judicial institutions and its campaig's focus is more on prosecuting individuals instead of reforming corrupt institutions.

Analyst Shairbek Juraev, Director of the Central Asian Studies Institute at the American University of Central Asia, said that the government of Kyrgyzstan targets relatively easy cases based on "who is networked and who is not" instead of finding the root of corruption in highest places. Another issue the government is facing is the loss of trust by the public due to perception that trial proceedings are opportunistically timed. Analysts say that the true measure of a good anti-corruption campaigns is good citizen participation and public confidence.

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