AP News, October 23rd, 2007
Kyrgyzstan's referendum on constitutional change was marred by numerous violations, the main trans-Atlantic security and rights group and the U.S. Embassy said Tuesday.
President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, who had initiated the Sunday vote, dissolved Parliament immediately after the results were announced Monday. On Tuesday, he signed the constitutional amendments into force and issued a decree setting new parliamentary elections for Dec. 16. The changes replace individual candidates with a system of party lists for electing the legislature.
Bakiyev's opponents said the constitutional changes will hurt smaller parties and independent politicians. They described the vote as an attempt by the president to sideline the opposition and help his political allies dominate Parliament.
Politics in the strategically important Central Asian country — site of U.S. and Russian bases — have been mired in squabbling for more than two years, since an uprising that forced longtime leader Askar Akayev to flee the country and brought Bakiyev to succeed him.
The disputes have obstructed efforts to address poverty and social problems.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the embassy said the violations in the referendum included ballot-stuffing, the use of state resources to shuttle people to voting precincts and interference in observers' work.
Official figures show some 74.5 percent of those who cast ballots in the referendum approved the constitutional changes.
The Central Election Commission said Monday that just over 80 percent of registered voters participated.
Marcus Muller, ambassador of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, said that local independent observers noted "a high number of violations" and said that many residents were only vaguely aware of what the ballot was about, casting doubt on the high voter turnout.
The U.S. Embassy issued a statement expressing concern that the referendum "did not meet international standards."
"We share the concern of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe about reports of irregularities, including credible reports of ballot-box stuffing and inflated voter participation figures," the statement read.
