Kyrgyzstan’s President Sadyr Japarov has announced plans to revise the country's national anthem, which he says fails to inspire patriotism and unity.

The revised anthem should seek to reinforce the spirit of contemporary Kyrgyz society and adequately portray the "evolving" identity of the nation, the populist-nationalist president added in an October 30 interview with Kabar.

Japarov, who in late 2020 was bust out of prison—where he was serving a sentence for taking part in the kidnapping of an official—by supporters amid an uprising ahead of becoming Kyrgyzstan’s new leader, noted that the current anthem was composed 33 years ago, shortly after the country gained independence amid the demise of the Soviet Union.

"We need a new anthem that embodies our rich history and the strong nation we are becoming," he added.

In January, Kyrgyzstan adopted a new national flag with a redesigned sun symbol after Japarov and some lawmakers portrayed the previous flag as communicating weakness and dependency.

Ahead of the move Japarov said: “There are lot of people who hold the view that the current flag looks like a sunflower. And because of that, our state has been unable to rise up since it could do nothing but gaze upon the sun. If the [new] option is adopted, God willing, we will no longer be dependent on anybody. From now on it will be as if the sun is shining and smiling on us.”

"We need leaders who are committed to strengthening our national identity. Our history is rich, and we must honour it through our symbols," Japarov concluded in explaining why a revised anthem should be pursued.