Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov claimed in an August 13 interview with journalist Ali Toktakunov that he’d planned for his former ally and security chief Kamshubek Tashiev to follow him in the presidency, but changed course once he realized “he’s not ready.”
The revelation comes in tandem with Kyrgyzstan’s prosecutor general appealing the July verdict and sentences in the “Letter of 75” case, seeking harsher punishments.
Japarov also clarified in the interview that he will, indeed, seek a second term in January in order to “complete” his reforms.
Tashiev served as the head of the State Committee for National Security (SCNS) until his surprising dismissal in February. At the time, Japarov explained the dismissal of his friend and close ally as necessary to “strengthen the unity of the state and prevent divisions in society, including between government agencies.”
A month before his dismissal, Tashiev had responded to mounting rumors that he would seek the presidency. “Many have tried and continue to try to sow discord between us, claiming that I aspire to the presidency. But this is not true,” he said at the time. “I do not intend to overthrow Sadyr Nurgoyevich h [Japarov]… In this life, only death can separate us.”
