BISHKEK, March 23: Kyrghyzstan’s new interior minister warned on Wednesday that authorities could resort to the use of force to restore order, as the government tried to keep opposition-led protests over a contested election from spreading to the capital. Just hours after his appointment, Keneshbek Dyushbayev said that law enforcement forces could legally use “physical methods, special means and issued arms in order to restore constitutional order”.

“If their actions exceed the framework of the law, then we intend to use the whole arsenal” of measures, he added.

The former Bishkek police chief also warned that demonstrators would face legal consequences over their actions.

Supporters of Kyrghyzstan’s disjointed opposition have staged demonstrations, mostly in the south of the country, since the results of a March 13 election were announced that virtually shut the opposition out of the Central Asian nation’s parliament.

But Kyrghyz police for the first time Wednesday dispersed a rally in the capital Bishkek where about 300 supporters of a candidate who lost his bid for parliament to the daughter of Kyrghyz President Askar Akayev had gathered.

They had planned to “hold a peaceful meeting to defend freedom of speech and honest elections”, according to one participant.

After breaking up the rally, police detained several dozen people, including Bolot Maripov, the founder of one of Bishkek’s most respected dailies who ran for a parliament seat but lost to Akayev’s daughter Bermet.

Protests also continued to roil southern Kyrghyzstan, the country’s most impoverished region with a history of violent clashes.

In the city of Osh, which along with nearby Jalal-Abad has borne the brunt of the protests, some 500 people gathered under a Lenin statue in front of the governor’s house to hear fiery speeches by the opposition, which has declared itself in control of the region.

Police have not been seen on the streets of Osh and Jalal-Abad since Monday, a day after violence was reported to have broken out during the demonstrations.—AFP