Kyrgyzstan – Presidential election

The presidential election was held in Kyrgyzstan on 23 July. The Central Election Commission is reporting the following result:

Kurmanbek Bakiev, 77.81%
Almazbek Atambaev, 8.25%
Temir Sariev, 5.8%
Toktaiym Umetalieva, 1.12%
Jenishbek Nazaraliev, 0.74%
Nurlan Motuev, 0.66%
Spoilt, 4.4%

This was on the basis of 97.94% of the votes being counted. Presumably the percentage figures relate to votes cast rather than valid votes cast, though they still don’t tally to 100%.

There was little likelihood of anything other than a victory for President Bakiev. However, the opposition has cried foul. Indeed, on the very day of the election, two candidates, Almazbek Atambaev, who was the main rival to President Bakiev, and Jenishbek Nazaraliev, withdrew from the contest.

The OSCE/ODIHR has issued a preliminary report that lists numerous serious irregularities. It is available here.

In contrast to the upheaval of the Tulip Revolution in 2005, this result has not led to any serious street protests.

There are some useful background reports on the election at RFE/RL.

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