Election Abuse Claims Mar Kyrgyz Vote
Immediately the July 23 presidential election was over, the main opposition challenger Almazbek Atambaev and fellow-candidate Jenishbek Nazaraliev contested the result.
Election Abuse Claims Mar Kyrgyz Vote
Immediately the July 23 presidential election was over, the main opposition challenger Almazbek Atambaev and fellow-candidate Jenishbek Nazaraliev contested the result.
The OSCE said the conduct of the ballot fell short of its standards, while observers from the Commonwealth of Independent States – other former Soviet republics – said the election was “transparent and free”.
The incumbent Kurmanbek Bakiev, declared the winner by a massive margin, accepted that the elections had not gone “without a hitch”.
“We’re all human,” he added. “There may have been some shortcomings, but they weren’t so major as to influence the election process as a whole.”
Anecdotal evidence pointing to various procedural violations was gathered by IWPR radio contributors Alina Kenjeeva, Ulukbu Amirova, Jazgul Jamangulova, Rita Borbukeeva and Timur Toktonaliev.