Kyrgyzstan Opposition Candidate Demands Repeat Vote
By VOA News
23 July 2009
Kyrgyzstan's main opposition candidate says he is pulling out of the country's presidential election due to massive voter fraud.
During a news conference Thursday, opposition leader and former Prime Minister Almazbek Atambayev said the results of Thursday's election should be considered illegitimate and demanded that authorities hold a repeat vote.
Another presidential candidate, Zhenishbek Nazaraliyev, also quit the race.
Atambayev was considered the main challenger to incumbent President Kurmanbek Bakiyev.
Political analysts have already predicted that Bakiyev will be re-elected to another five-year term, citing widespread voter apathy and an increasingly authoritarian government.
President Bakiyev came to power in 2005 after violent street protests forced his predecessor, Askar Akayev, to resign.
The Central Asian nation hosts a key U.S. air base used to supply U.S. and NATO troops in neighboring Afghanistan.
In February, President Bakiyev announced the closure of the base after Russia pledged $2 billion in loans and aid to Kyrgyzstan. But earlier this month, the Kyrgyz government changed course and approved a deal allowing the U.S. to continue using the Manas airbase in exchange for $60 million a year in rent, more than three times what it paid in the past.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.
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