Social Democrats Victorious in Kyrgyz Parliamentary Vote

Results given by the Central Electoral Commission show that the SDPK, founded by Atambayev, garnered 27 percent of the vote.

A few 14 political parties – the Social Democratic Party of Kyrgyzstan, Ata Meken, Bir Bol, Ar-Namys, Onuguu-Progress, Azattyk, Respublika-Ata Jurt, Butun Kyrgyzstan-Emgek, Zamandash, Uluu Kyrgyzstan, Kyrgyzstan, Meken Yntymagy, People’s Congress of Kyrgyzstan, Aalam Party of the Unaffiliated – competed for seats in the 120-member parliament. “This is a huge shock in that six parties are going to get in”, RFE/RL correspondent Bruce Pannier stated from Bishkek concerning the preliminary outcomes.

On Sunday, Atambayev said he wanted his former party to lead a new ruling coalition with a stronger mandate. Almost 2.7 million voters have been registered to vote after receiving biometric ID cards – a 1st for Central Asia – which, with the assistance of a scanner, have been used to determine each one voter by his or her fingerprint in a bid to stamp out voter fraud.

Deputy Prime Minister Taiyrbek Sarpashev said on October 4 that 3-5 percent of voters faced “technical problems with the biometric voting system”.

The head of the For Democracy and Civil Society group, which observed the election process at a few 500 polling stations, told RFE it had received no reports about “very serious irregularities”.

In order to take a seat in parliament, parties must obtain at least seven percent of the vote nationwide, and not less than 0.7 percent of the vote in each of the seven regions of the country, as well as in Bishkek, the capital, and Osh, the country’s second largest city.

“For me, it’s important to have a solid footing in parliament”, he said.

Several rights activists and NGOs complained to the CEC about the connections between the president and the party.

All were pro-Russia groupings.

Kyrgyzstan’s parliamentary elections were “characterized by a lively campaign”, were competitive and gave voters a wide range of choice, officials of the Organization for Security and Monitoring in Europe (OSCE) said on Monday.