Kyrgyz leader stands by PM choice, standoff looms

BISHKEK, Jan 19 (Reuters) Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev nominated his ally Felix Kulov as prime minister again today, a day after parliament voted against reinstating him, potentially setting the stage for a protracted standoff.

Parliament voted 39-23 yesterday against reinstating Kulov, who resigned last month so that a new constitution could take hold in Kyrgyzstan, a poor state near Afghanistan which hosts US and Russian military airbases.

The assembly is likely to hold a new vote next week on whether to reappointing Kulov and his government.

The new constitution had been intended to hand parliament more power at Bakiyev's expense following protests against the leader and his prime minister in November, but Bakiyev pushed through another constitution in December retaining most of his powers.

Although the constitution now in force calls for a new parliamentary election if the parliament fails to approve a presidential nomination for prime minister three times in a row, lawyers said this was not applicable now.

A lawyer for the president's office and one in parliament's legal department told Reuters the three-vote rule was not in force because it was based on a new, larger parliament foreseen by the constitution that is not yet in place.

Omurbek Tekebayev, a leading critic of Bakiyev in parliament and a former parliamentary speaker, appeared to back that view.

He was quoted by the parliamentary press service as telling the chamber that under interim rules the president could nominate a candidate as many times as he wanted and parliament could block the candidate as long as it wanted.

Kyrgyzstan has lurched from one political crisis to another since former President Askar Akayev fled violent protests in March 2005. Bakiyev's critics accuse him of doing too little to root out corruption and poverty since his election.

REUTERS PB RN1802