New ruling coalition formed in Kyrgyzstan

A new majority coalition has been formed in the Kyrgyz parliament, the Social Democratic Party's parliamentary faction leader, Chynybay Tursunbekov, told Xinhua on Friday. Four factions, namely the Social Democratic Party, Respublika ( Republic), Ata-Meken (Fatherland) and Ar-Namys (Dignity), have signed a coalition agreement. The new coalition should be holding 92 of the total 120 seats in the parliament, but one Ar-Namys faction member later announced the decision to quit the coalition. The remaining 28 seats belong to the opposition Ata-Zhurt ( Motherland) party. Ata-Zhurt party leader Kachibek Tashiyev, who comes from southern Kyrgyzstan, said that under the law, as an opposition faction, Ata-Zhurt will get leadership in the parliamentary committees for budget and finance, as well as for law enforcement and corruption resistance. At the first meeting of the parliamentary alliance, it was recommended that current Acting Prime Minister Omurbek Babanov and Social Democratic Party deputy Asilbek Jeenbekov be the candidates for Prime Minister and Parliament Speaker. The proposal will be submitted to the parliament for approval next week. On Dec. 2, the Social Democratic Party announced its decision to withdraw from the previous coalition. On Dec. 8, the Social Democratic Party was given a mandate by Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev to form a new coalition.