OSCE 'disappointed' by Kyrgyz presidential polls
24/07/200914:21
BISHKEK, July 24 (RIA Novosti) - OSCE election monitors in Kyrgyzstan said on Friday the country's presidential vote failed to meet the required international standards, with a number of irregularities observed during voting.
"Sadly, this election did not show the progress we were hoping for and it again fell short of key standards Kyrgyzstan has committed to as a participating state of the OSCE," the group of monitors said in a statement. "The conduct of election day was a disappointment."
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said there had been cases of ballot box stuffing, inaccuracies in the voter lists, multiple voting and other irregularities.
The OSCE's preliminary report also said President Kurmanbek Bakiyev used administrative resources to ensure his reelection, and campaigning in the Central Asian state was uneven, with candidates having unequal access to the media.
Preliminary results show Bakiyev leading the polls with over 86% of Thursday's vote. His closest rival, opposition candidate Almazbek Atambayev, received just over 7%.
Atambayev and another candidate withdrew from the vote on Thursday claiming fraud. Opposition leaders threatened street protests.
The ex-Soviet state hosts a U.S. airbase that is central to U.S.-led operations in nearby Afghanistan. Russia also runs a base in the country and is in talks with Bishkek on opening a new base of a post-Soviet security bloc.
Bakiyev, 59, came to power in 2005 after leading street protests that forced his longtime predecessor into exile, but has faced political crises and disputes with the opposition, who accuse him of failing to tackle economic problems and becoming increasingly authoritarian.
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