Kyrgyzstan: Governing Party MPs Demand Urgent Meeting with President

A leading member of Kyrgyzstan's governing Ak Zhol party has called on President Kurmanbek Bakiyev to convene and participate in an urgent meeting to address the investigation into the death of a high profile politician last week.

Medet Sadyrkulov, Bakiyev's former chief-of-staff, died in a car accident that opposition parties have branded an assassination.

At a parliamentary committee meeting March 17, Ak Zhol MP Galina Kulikova addressed comments to the president's office. "At the meeting, you need to voice all shortcomings in the investigation of an accident," she said.

President Bakiyev has taken personal control of the investigation into the death of Sadyrkulov, the former head of the Kyrgyz Center of Strategic Studies, Sergei Slepchenko, and their driver on the outskirts of Bishkek, March 13.

The 24-year-old driver of the car alleged have hit Sadyrkulov's vehicle was arrested at the scene and has since admitted responsibility for the crash that caused both cars to burst into flames, Bishkek police say.