Kyrgyzstan’s acting Prime Minister resigned yesterday after his party appeared to be frozen out of a new coalition to run the volatile former Soviet republic.

The new model of government is backed by the US

Omurbek Babanov, a prominent businessman who had served as Prime Minister since December, will move into opposition ahead of the formation a new coalition government that is likely to comprise three of the five parties in Parliament.

“He asked to resign because the formation of a new coalition has practically been decided,” said Babanov’s spokesman, Sultan Kanazarov. The office of the President, Almazbek Atambayev, said in a statement his resignation had been accepted.

A parliamentary democracy unique in Central Asia, Kyrgyzstan’s new model of government is backed by the US but viewed with suspicion by former imperial master Russia. Both countries have military air bases in the country. The coalition Government collapsed on August 22 after two of its four members withdrew in protest against a shrinking economy and corruption allegations against Babanov.

The Prime Minister, who had continued in an acting capacity since, has denied all accusations of impropriety.

The move risks triggering a prolonged period of political turmoil.

Deputies from Ata-Meken, one of two parties to quit the coalition, warned that Kyrgyzstan risks defaulting on its $2.8 billion (€2.2bn) foreign debt, more than half of its gross domestic product.

Weak economic governance and a high level of perceived corruption are seen as key hurdles to development in Kyrgyzstan, which lies along a major drug trafficking route from Afghanistan and has suffered periodic bouts of ethnic violence.