Interim govt in Kyrgyzstan moves to legitimise rule

OSH (Kyrgyzstan), June 27: Kyrgyzstan on Sunday voted in favour of a new constitution, its interim leader announced, in a referendum marked by a mass turnout held just two weeks after ethnic clashes killed hundreds.

The constitution establishes a parliamentary democracy in Kyrgyzstan and its adoption was crucial for legitimising the new authorities who took power after the popular April uprising that toppled former president Kurmanbek Bakiyev.

The interim government pressed ahead with the vote despite horrific clashes between minority Uzbeks and majority Kyrgyz earlier this month that killed hundreds.

“The new constitution has been adopted, despite the savage attacks of its opponents,” Ms Otunbayeva said hours after polls closed and well ahead of the announcement of any official results, only expected in the next two days.

“The people have put a full stop on the epoch of authoritarian, nepotistic management. Today we reached victory on the path to a true government of the people.” She put the turnout at 65.1 per cent although the website of the central election commission said the figure was over 68 per cent.

Respectable numbers were seen showing up throughout the day to cast their ballots in the southern city of Osh – the epicentre of the violence – with the situation calm and no reports of unrest, an AFP correspondent reported.

Bakiyev, who has fled to Belarus, was blamed by the authorities for last month’s bloodshed but has denied any involvement.

“We will show the world that Kyrgyzstan is united,” Ms Otunbayeva said earlier as she cast her vote in Osh. “We want to heal ourselves from the pain that struck as a result of the tragic events.” The authorities temporarily lifted a curfew in the south – imposed in the wake of the violence – so that the vote could go ahead. It will be re-imposed after the vote and run from 9:00 pm until 6:00 am, Ms Otunbayeva said.

“I voted ‘yes’ so that the situation gets better. Many Uzbeks have suffered and several members of my family died. I am scared but I came to vote,” said Dlora Kazakbayeva, an Uzbek woman, after voting in Osh.

The new constitution will slash the powers of the president and make Kyrgyzstan Central Asia’s first parliamentary democracy in a region notorious for authoritarian rulers.

The referendum will set the stage for parliamentary elections that authorities have scheduled for early September to bring in a permanent government.

But several international observers warned the referendum is a premature step so soon after the violence.—AFP

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