BISHKEK - Kyrgyzstan's parliament Friday stripped the family of ousted president Askar Akayev of immunity and lifted a ban on seizing its property, but delayed formally accepting the veteran leader's resignation until next week.
By a vote of 59 for and two abstentions, deputies voted to repeal legislation that afforded extra privileges to the first president of the Central Asian nation. Akayev has led Kyrgyzstan since 1990.
In addition to removing his family's immunity and allowing its property to be seized, the vote also banned Akayev from participating in government and parliament sessions.
The vote means that Akayev will nonetheless enjoy the same privileges as any of his successors -- personal immunity, a security detail and a pension.
Deputies decided to delay until Monday a review of Akayev's resignation. It was the fourth time in less than a week that the chamber had failed to vote on the issue.
Although Akayev, 60, tendered his resignation last Monday it won't enter into force until parliament votes to accept it. Such a vote would legitimize the country's new authorities and clear the way for a new presidential election.
Akayev announced on Monday that he was resigning as leader of the key Central Asian nation in Moscow, where he fled on March 24 after weeks of discontent over a parliamentary election boiled over and protestors overran the main seat of government in the capital.
Akayev, a 60-year-old trained physicist, was first elected president of this poor mountainous nation of five million people on China's western edge while it was still one of Soviet Union's 15 republics.
He clung on to power after independence in 1991 and was considered the most liberal ruler in ex-Soviet Central Asia, but had lost support over the past several years as members of his family and close associates assumed disproportionate control over the nation's politics and economy.
The protests that ousted his regime were sparked by this year's parliamentary polls that after a March 13 runoff nearly shut the opposition out of the 75-seat legislature.
The opposition accused Akayev's administration of trying to stack the chamber with supporters ahead of an October presidential election. His son and daughter had won legislative seats during the ballot.
04/08/2005 07:43 GMT