Kyrgyz Prime Minister Igor Chudinov and his cabinet resigned Tuesday over President Kurmanbek Bakiyev's government reform plan, the president's office said in a statement.

Picture taken on Oct. 6, 2009 shows Kyrgyz Prime Minister Igor Chudinov receives an interview from Xinhua in Bishkek. Chudinov has resigned from his post, the Interfax news agency reported on October 20, 2009. [Xinhua]

Bakiyev has signed a decree on the resignation of the government, spokesman for the office said.

Earlier in the day, Bakiyev announced a reorganization of the country's government, saying that the clumsy government is unable to respond to the current situation.

Bakiyev said the reform would save more than 500 million soms (11.5 million US dollars) in budget funds.

The cabinet headed by Chudinov was forced to submit its resignation in the wake of the reform.

Opposition leaders have criticized Bakiyev's reform plans for attempting to allocate more powers to the presidency.

Later, Bakiyev's Ak Zhol party nominated presidential chief of staff, Daniyar Usenov, to lead the new government.

Usenov, 49, was former first deputy prime minister and one of Bakiyev's allies during the 2005 protests that toppled then-President Askar Akayev and brought Bakiyev and his team to power.

Bakiyev was re-elected in July to another five-year term.

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