MINSK, 11 January (BelTA) – Kyrgyzstan invested significant efforts to conduct the election in an open and transparent way, Vasily Volkov, head of the CIS observation mission for the early presidential election and a referendum to choose governance system in the Republic of Kyrgyzstan, told a press conference in Bishkek on 11 January, BelTA learned from the mission headquarters.
“The CIS observation mission believes that the electoral legislation of Kyrgyzstan has made it possible to ensure universal, equal, direct suffrage through secret ballot in the presidential election and the referendum. The electoral bodies have created conditions for free expression of the will by voters,” Vasily Volkov said.
The early presidential election and the referendum to choose governance system (presidential or parliamentary) in the Republic of Kyrgyzstan were held in the country on 10 January. A total of 17 candidates ran for presidency. According to the Central Election Commission, after processing ballots from 98% of polling stations, Sadyr Japarov was in the lead with 79.2% of the votes. To win in the first round, a candidate needed to get more than 50% of the votes. More than 80% of voters preferred the presidential form of governance to the parliamentary one.
