Presidential elections in June: new Kyrgyz leader

Kyrgyzstan's acting President Kurmanbek Bakiyev said on Friday that presidential elections will be held in June according to the existing constitution, reports from the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek said.

Without announcing an exact date for the poll, Bakiyev told the parliament that "the elections of a new president must take place within three months according to the existing law."

"We will follow the existing law," he added.

Bakiyev, who is deputy head of the People's Movement of Kyrgyzstan, said earlier in the day that he was appointed both acting president and prime minister by the deputies.

"Parliament appointed me prime minister and gave me the functions of president," Bakiyev said to crowds of supporters in Bishkek late Thursday.

"I now exercise the duties of prime minister and president," he said.

The opposition in the small Central Asian country started gathering after the Feb. 27 parliamentary election, alleging that the poll was flawed. Rallies escalated after the March 13 run-offs,with opposition taking control of government buildings and airports in some southern regions and banks looted in demonstrations-turned-riots.

On Thursday, protesters broke the security line and stormed into the White House, the seat of the government.

There were confusing reports about the whereabouts of Kyrgyz President Askar Akayev.

Source: Xinhua