Kyrgyzstan's presidential election ends, with no reports of major violations

Kyrgyzstan's presidential election ends, with no reports of major violations

Kyrgyzstan's sixth presidential election wrapped up at 7 p.m. local time (1300 GMT) on Sunday, with no reports of major violations across the country.

The turnout rate is 57.90 percent, Central Election Committee (CEC) Chairman Tuigunaly Abdraimov said at a press conference.

According to the Interior Ministry and Department of Emergency Situations, the situation in the country was stable during the voting process, and no major violations occurred.

International observers and the CEC said there have been a few irregularities during the voting process. It added that some residents were not included in the electoral lists, but no large-scale fraud has been found.

An official with the CEC said the preliminary result may be announced on Monday morning.

According to Kyrgyzstan's new electoral law, there is no limit in the election's voter turnout rate. The election will be recognized as valid regardless of the turnout rate.

Abdraimov told Xinhua that the state treasury allocated 410 million soms (around 9 million U.S. dollars) for the presidential election, of which 149 million soms will be used in case of a runoff.

Sixteen candidates, including incumbent Prime Minister Almazbek Atambayev, United Kyrgyzstan party leader Adakhan Madumarov and Kamchibek Tashiyev, the Ata-Zhurt party leader, contended for the republic's highest post.

Besides 2,289 domestic polling stations, 29 polling stations were also opened to Kyrgyz voters living abroad. According to the CEC, 3.03 million people have registered for the vote.

In line with the country's law, a candidate will be declared the outright winner if he garners more than 50 percent of the vote.

If none of the candidates receives a clear majority, the commission will call a second round for the two candidates who have received most votes in the first round.

This election was the country's first since former President Kurmanbek Bakiyev was ousted in April last year.

The country's outgoing interim President Roza Otunbayeva will step aside for the eventual winner at the end of this year.

Editor: yan

English.news.cn   2011-10-31 00:03:46 FeedbackPrintRSS
BISHKEK, Oct. 30 (Xinhua)