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Transcript/Script English
((TITLE: TV Kazakhstan Emergency Rice
HEAD: Kazakhstan Protesters Press On As President Declares State of Emergency
PUBLISHED AT: 01/5/2021 at 642pm
BYLINE: Anna Rice, Alex Yanevskyy
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: Washington
VIDEOGRAPHER:
VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA, Agency footage TBD
PLATFORMS: TV only
COPY EDITOR: KE(1st), MAS
TRT:2:38
VID APPROVED BY: Jepsen
TYPE: TVPKG
UPDATE:))
((INTRO:))
[[In Kazakhstan, locals took to the streets to express their anger with a sharp rise in fuel prices. In response, the country’s government has resigned, and a state of emergency has been declared. Anna Rice has the story.]]
((NARRATION))
The presidential residence in Kazakhstan’s largest city Almaty engulfed in flames on January 5th during protests against a sudden surge in fuel prices.
Protests also broke out in the country’s capital Nursultan, as well as other large cities sparked by the government’s decision to lift a cap on fuel prices that went in place on New Year’s Day.
That caused the price of fuel to double overnight.
On Wednesday, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev dismissed the prime minister and his Cabinet and removed former President Nursultan Nazarbayev as leader of the national security council. He also promised to crack down on protestors.
((Hélène Thibault, Nazarbayev University)) ((Skype))
“This is something quite unexpected, Kazakhstan has been very stable politically and economically to a relative extent since its independence in 1991. // What we see today is really unexpected and something quite significant for Kazakhstan and for the region.”
((NARRATION))
According to the Kazakh state media, many of the demonstrators who gathered outside the presidential residence and the Almaty main administration building were carrying clubs and shields.
The protests began on Sunday, January 2nd, in Zhanaozen and quickly spread.
((Jennifer Brick Murtazashvili, Center for Governance and Markets)) ((Zoom, recorded on PC))
“The protests started in western Kazakhstan, where people tend to rely on this gas more than in other parts of the country. But what's important to note here is that this is the oil fields of Kazakhstan. So, people are protesting the rise in gas prices in the place where the oil is produced.”
((NARRATION))
President Tokayev is promising to restore gas prices to last year’s levels and has declared a two-week state of emergency in the two largest cities – Almaty and capital Nursultan. The order includes an overnight curfew and limited movement into and around the cities.
((Jennifer Brick Murtazashvili, Center for Governance and Markets)) ((Zoom, recorded on PC))
“President Tokayev declared a state of emergency until January 19th. // And that means that he really believes that these protests have the potential to do something in the long term. I think that the repression that the government puts on them, obviously the coercive force will probably quell them for the short term, but I think these issues in the longer term will be much harder to address.”
((NARRATION))
The government, which has strong ties to the Putin government in Russia, is also restricting access to some parts of the internet.
((Anna Rice, VOA News, Washington))
NewsML Media TopicsConflict, War and Peace, Economy, Business and Finance
NetworkVOA
Embargo DateJanuary 5, 2022 19:16 EST
Brand / Language ServiceUS Agency for Global Media
