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| - Kyrgyzstan said Wednesday that parliamentary elections annulled this month following unrest would be repeated in December as acting leader Sadyr Japarov moved to reassure Russia of the two countries' strategic partnership. The Central Asian country's elections commission said the voting would take place on December 20, after the previous poll was annulled over political chaos that unseated a president and rattled Russia. Allegations of vote-buying in the October 4 elections raised by international monitors and losing parties sparked a protest that escalated into clashes between police and demonstrators. Sooronbay Jeenbekov resigned as president last Thursday, allowing populist Japarov -- who had been approved as prime minister the previous day -- to also take over as acting head of state. Jeenbekov was the third Kyrgyz president to resign on the back of political unrest since independence in 1991. This turbulence has concerned Russia, which maintains a military base in the country and is a destination for hundreds of thousands of Kyrgyz migrants. Japarov received Moscow's ambassador Nikolai Udovichenko on Wednesday, a government press release said, in his first publicly acknowledged talks with a Russian official since becoming prime minister. Japarov thanked Udovichenko for Moscow's "important role" in stabilising the country and assured that Russia "was and remains a trusted strategic partner of our country". He also gave assurances that the Russian language would retain its constitutional status in Kyrgyzstan. Foreign Minister Ruslan Kazakbayev is scheduled to fly to Moscow on Thursday for talks with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, a Kyrgyz foreign ministry statement said last week. After electoral authorities agreed the new date for the elections, lawmakers failed Wednesday to agree a new date for a presidential vote. According to the constitution, 51-year-old Japarov will not be able to run for office unless he leaves his posts before the electoral period begins. But his critics say he has shown minimal regard for the country's institutions during his rise to power. Japarov himself has said he is seeking to change the constitution. On Wednesday he declared an "economic amnesty" for officials who returned ill-gotten money to the government, allowing them 30 days to do so without fear of prosecution. The decision was made to support the budget help pay off Kyrgyzstan's external debt, over two fifths of which is owned by neighbouring China, he said. "I am giving you 30 days!" Japarov told officials in a statement. The move came after a key powerbroker was detained but swiftly released under house arrest Tuesday, as the national security committee claimed he had agreed to return over $20 million in stolen funds. Japarov has proposed to shrink the legislature, alter the electoral system and create in parallel a people's assembly that could force fresh elections if dissatisfied with the parliament. He installed one longtime ally as national security chief, while parliament confirmed another ally as state prosecutor Wednesday. Kyrgyzstan is the most pluralistic -- but also the most politically volatile -- of the five former Soviet Central Asian states. Omurbek Tekebayev, a lawmaker seen as the main architect of constitutional changes that came after a revolution in 2010 warned on Wednesday that lawmakers should be wary of reforms weakening institutions. "Remember, we could be heading down a path like Turkmenistan," he said, referring to the authoritarian Central Asian state. "And one day, you may have to kiss the hand of the leader." tol-cr/jbr/pvh
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