President of Kazakhstan Accepts Resignation of Government Amid Mass Protests Across Nation

ALMATY (Sputnik) - Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed a decree on the resignation of the government after a wave of protests swept the nation amid outrage regarding the rising cost of liquified petroleum gas.

The document marks the resignation effective immediately but instructs members of the government to continue to fulfill their duties until the approval of a new cabinet. First Deputy Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov was appointed to serve as acting prime minister in the interim.

The decree further noted that Krymbek Kusherbayev was removed from his station as the state secretary, with Yerlan Karin being bumped up to the seat by a separate announcement. Additionally Murat Nurtleu was tapped to serve as the first deputy head of the National Security Committee.

Since February 25, 2019, the government of Kazakhstan was led by Askar Mamin.

The drastic changes came hours after Tokayev declared a state of emergency and implemented a curfew in Almaty and the Mangystau Province after mass protests against increased gas prices. The state of emergency is expected to remain in place until January 19.

The Kazakh president has since stated that the government is "especially to blame" for allowing the demonstrations to break out over the price hike on liquified gas.

Protests have been going on over the last three days. Video earlier captured clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement officials, and flash grenades that had been deployed to quell the unrest.