BISHKEK, March 25: Kyrghyzstan’s new leaders cemented their grip on power on Friday, naming an acting head of state and top ministers and announcing fresh presidential polls while seeking to restore calm and reassure allies. A day after protests toppled the 15-year regime of president Askar Akayev, parliament appointed Kurmanbek Bakiyev, a former premier and a leader of the fractious opposition, as interim president and prime minister.

He announced a new presidential election for June, but did not specify a date. “Right now, the main goal is to form a government and ensure order and stability in the republic, especially in Bishkek,” he said.

“According to the existing constitution, the elections of a new president must take place in three months. We will follow the existing law.”

The whereabouts of Akayev, the 60-year-old who had ruled this impoverished mountainous country of five million on China’s western border since 1990, was still unclear early Friday.

Unconfirmed reports say he fled Thursday to neighbouring Kazakhstan after opposition demonstrators swept into the seat of government and presidency in a dramatic escalation of protests over a disputed parliamentary election.—AFP/Reuters