BISHKEK. June 21 (Interfax) - Police Col. Bolot Abakirov has been appointed as head of the Osh regional police department in Kyrgyzstan, the country's Interior Ministry's Department of Information and Public Relations said.
The respective order was signed by Kyrgyz Interior Minister Bolot Sherniyazov last Sunday.
It was reported that Omurbek Suvanaliyev, who was appointed as Osh regional police chief on June 12, stepped down last Sunday for political reasons.
"Osh regional police chief Maj. Gen. Suvanaliyev has resigned. He explained his decision by plans to take part in a party campaign ahead of the parliamentary elections," the regional superintendent's spokesperson said.
Later Suvanaliyev himself issued a statement explain his decision to resign by his disagreement with the interim government over the referendum on a new Kyrgyz constitution set for June 27.
"The nationwide referendum scheduled for June 27 can reverse the course of events [in southern Kyrgyzstan]," Suvanaliyev said in a statement.
There are fears that on the referendum day police will be unable to provide public safety as "they will be redeployed to other locations - to protect ballot boxes, polling stations and counting commissions," Suvanaliyev said.
Regretfully, all "the attempts by other politicians and experts to dissuade the interim government from conducting a nationwide referendum after such bloodshed have failed," he said.
"[I do not want] to be an accomplice in what could prove even harsher events and to take part in the immoral farce," Suvanaliyev said.