Protests erupt in Kazakhstan after fuel price rise | Protests News

Demonstrators take to the streets for a third day amid widespread anger about lifting of price caps on liquefied petroleum gas.

Protests against soaring energy prices took place in Kazakhstan for a third consecutive day on Tuesday, marking a rare show of mass public dissent in the former Soviet republic.

The demonstrations initially erupted during the weekend in the town of Zhanaozen, in the oil-rich western Mangystau region, sparked by the lifting of price caps on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).

They have since spread to several towns and cities, including the regional hub of Aktau on the country’s Caspian Sea coast, as well as a worker camp used by subcontractors of Kazakhstan’s biggest oil producer, Tengizchevroil. The protests have reportedly involved thousands of people.

Massive protests across Kazakhstan on the background of worsening economic conditions, fuel price hike.

Protesters in Atyrau have broken police cordon and gathering at the main square, multiple roads closed https://t.co/qoxrlQ1lbC pic.twitter.com/fKY6aPy9f5

— Liveuamap (@Liveuamap) January 4, 2022

Demonstrators in Zhanaozen, an oil industry hub where dozens of people were killed in protests in 2011 triggered by the sacking of oil workers calling for better pay and working conditions, demanded the price of LPG be halved from 120 tenge ($0.27) per litre to the level at which the fuel was sold last year.

Retailers have agreed to cut the price by a quarter but President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s government has said further cuts are impossible because of production costs.

The price had previously been regulated, but officials said artificially low prices were making LPG production infeasible.

President calls for ‘dialogue’

Tokayev has moved to try and to calm the protests.

He said on Twitter on Tuesday that a government commission has started working in Aktau and would find a solution “in the interest of stability in our country”.

“Law enforcement agencies have been instructed to ensure that public order is not violated. Demonstrators must show responsibility and willingness to enter dialogue,” Tokayev added.

His remarks came after videos circulated on social media showed police encircling protesters in Aktau on Monday evening.

There were also reports on social media that authorities had cut off the internet in some areas, blocked news websites and detained reporters in response to the demonstrations. Al Jazeera was unable to independently verify those reports.

#Kazakhstan: @kaztagkz & https://t.co/WEEVv6y3j2 blocked amid coverage of protests against gas price rises! KazTAG news agency refused to delete an article at the Ministry of Info @aqdm_mior‘s request for allegedly false information. @RSF_en calls for an end to this censorship. pic.twitter.com/v3nyflqIpo

— RSF in English (@RSF_en) January 4, 2022

Public protests are rare in tightly controlled Kazakhstan, whose parliament is devoid of opposition, and deemed illegal unless their organisers file a notice in advance.

Tokayev took office in 2019, handpicked as a successor by the country’s founding leader Nursultan Nazarbayev.

But Nazarbayev, who is 81 and had who governed Kazakhstan since 1989, retains control over the country as chairman of the security council and “Leader of the Nation” – a title that affords him unique policymaking privileges as well as immunity from prosecution.