Protesters burn Kazakh president's house after cabinet resigns


Protesters in the oil-rich former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan burned the country's presidential residence Wednesday as protests that began earlier in the week continue to escalate, The Associated Press reports.
President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, who took office in 2019, declared a two-week curfew, threatened "to act with maximum severity" against rioters, and called for "mutual trust and dialogue rather than conflict." An internet blackout has also reportedly been implemented. Public protests are illegal in Kazakhstan unless authorized by the government.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Tokayev has also accepted the resignation of the cabinet led by Prime Minister Askar Mamin and installed an acting cabinet under Alikhan Smailov in its place.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
On Saturday, the government announced a near-doubling of the price of liquified petroleum gas (LPG), which many Kazakhs use to fuel their cars, in the country's western Mangistau region. Protests erupted the next day and quickly spread throughout the country.
Tokayev announced late Tuesday that he was reimplementing the price controls on LPG, which hold the going rate to less than half the market price. It appears, though, that this was too little too late.
"[The protests] started for economic reasons … but they quickly took a political angle with people calling for free elections of local officials, calling for the ouster of top officials, the government," Radio Free Europe correspondent Bruce Pannier told Al Jazeera.
Protesters have reportedly chanted "Old man out," referring to former President Nursultan Nazarbayev, an authoritarian leader who ruled Kazakhstan from the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 until 2019 and continues to exercise influence behind the scenes. Tokayev is Nazarbayev's chosen successor, and the party Nazarbayev founded holds more than 80 percent of seats in the Kazakh parliament.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Human rights watchdog Freedom House rates Kazakhstan as "Not Free," assigning it scores of 5 out of 40 in the category of political rights and 18 out of 60 in civil liberties.
Update 3 p.m. ET: The Freedom House scores have been corrected.
Grayson Quay was the weekend editor at TheWeek.com. His writing has also been published in National Review, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Modern Age, The American Conservative, The Spectator World, and other outlets. Grayson earned his M.A. from Georgetown University in 2019.
-
The mission to demine Ukraine
The Explainer An estimated quarter of the nation – an area the size of England – is contaminated with landmines and unexploded shells from the war
-
Can anyone save Jimmy Lai?
Today's Big Question 'Britain's shameful inaction' will mean it's partly 'responsible' if Hong Kong businessman dies in prison
-
The most notable records broken by Taylor Swift
In Depth The pop star has cemented herself as one of the century's most popular artists
-
Trump expands National Guard role in policing
Speed Read The president wants the Guard to take on a larger role in domestic law enforcement
-
Trump says he's firing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook
Speed Read The move is likely part of Trump's push to get the central bank to cut interest rates
-
Abrego released from jail, faces Uganda deportation
Speed Read The wrongly deported Kilmar Abrego García is expected to be detained at an ICE check-in and deported to Uganda
-
Trump arms National Guard in DC, threatens other cities
speed read His next targets are Chicago, New York and Baltimore
-
Judge: Trump's US attorney in NJ serving unlawfully
Speed Read The appointment of Trump's former personal defense lawyer, Alina Habba, as acting US attorney in New Jersey was ruled 'unlawful'
-
Third judge rejects DOJ's Epstein records request
Speed Read Judge Richard Berman was the third and final federal judge to reject DOJ petitions to unseal Epstein-related grand jury material
-
Texas OKs gerrymander sought by Trump
Speed Read The House approved a new congressional map aimed at flipping Democratic-held seats to Republican control
-
Israel starts Gaza assault, approves West Bank plan
Speed Read Israel forces pushed into the outskirts of Gaza City and Netanyahu's government gave approval for a settlement to cut the occupied Palestinian territory in two