The government resigned after protests against fuel price hikes

In Kazakhstan, it was announced that the government headed by Prime Minister Askar Mamin had resigned due to the protests against the increase in LPG prices in the country. In the morning, President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev accepted the resignation of the government headed by Prime Minister Askar Mamin. According to the Presidency's statement, Alihan Smaiylov, who was previously the Deputy Prime Minister, will be the Deputy Prime Minister again. In the city of Zhanaozen in western Kazakhstan, a State of Emergency (OHAL) was declared in Almaty city and Mangistau province as the protests of drivers opposing the hike in liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) spread throughout the country. In the decree signed by President Tokayev regarding the state of emergency, a curfew was imposed between January 5 and 19 in the said regions due to the worsening of the situation in ensuring public safety in the country. In Almaty, the former capital of the country, the protests, attended by thousands of people, continued throughout the night. The police intervened, using stun grenades and tear gas. On January 2, in the city of Zhanaozen, in Mangistau province on the Caspian Sea coast of the country, car drivers started to protest the hike in the price of LPG. Drivers who blocked the main roads of the city wanted the LPG price to be reduced from 120 tenge per liter to 60 tenge. The protest then spread to the city of Aktau, the center of the province, and the protestors gathered in the square where the governor's office is located. Workers working in the major oil fields in the region also supported the protests. In a short time, the support protests held in the cities of Aktau, Atyrau, Aktobe and Oral in the western part of Kazakhstan, where all oil and natural gas reserves are located, spread to other parts of the country in the afternoon. The special government commission established after meeting with the protesters in Ktau announced that they had reduced the price of LPG to 50 tenge ($0.11) per liter. However, in the ongoing protests, political slogans criticizing the current administrative system were shouted and demands were made to improve the socio-economic situation of the people. In the process that brought down the government in Kazakhstan, the price of LPG was increased from 60 tenge to 120 tenge per liter.