You're reading: Lukashenko: Bakiyev ready to go to Kyrgyzstan

Mogilyov, May 27 (Interfax) - Kurmanbek Bakiyev, who is currently in Belarus, is ready to return to Kyrgyzstan to announce a referendum, President Alexander Lukashenko said.

"I asked Kurmanbek Saliyevich: will you go to Kyrgyzstan to announce a referendum and then leave? I will, he said," Lukashenko said.

The Belarusian leader did not say whether the referendum will be on confidence in Bakiyev or on constitutional changes.

"It would be legitimate," Lukashenko said on Thursday before alumni and professors of the Mogilyov region’s universities.

"The so-called interim government of Kyrgyzstan is currently in a difficult situation," Lukashenko said. "Today they want to hold a referendum and adopt a constitution. Tell me who will announce the referendum?" the Belarusian president said.

"The referendum will be held, time will pass, and someone else will want to grab power. Justified? Absolutely!" Lukashenko said. "A referendum there [in Kyrgyzstan] can be announced by the president and, I think, the parliament. There is neither a president, nor a parliament. Who will announce the referendum? The interim government? Who are they?" Lukashenko said.

"If the international community supports [the referendum announced by the interim government], it will set a dangerous precedent," he said.

Bakiyev is still in Belarus, Lukashenko said. "He is here, I visited his family at home two weeks ago," the Belarusian president said.

"I acted as a human, and I have no regrets about it today," Lukashenko commented on the decision to give Bakiyev refuge in Belarus.