- Title: KYRGYZSTAN: Kyrgyz voters prepare for landmark parliamentary elections
- Date: 10th October 2010
- Summary: BISHKEK, KYRGYZSTAN (OCTOBER 9, 2010) (REUTERS) VIEW OF BISHKEK CENTRAL SQUARE KYRGYZ FLAG CARS DRIVING PAST ELECTION ADS ELECTION AD ON STREET CARS DRIVING PAST ELECTION AD ELECTION AD ON STREET PEOPLE ENTERING POLLING STATION SIGN "POLLING STATION 1327" ABOVE ENTRANCE VARIOUS OF MAN INSIDE POLLING STATION FITTING LIGHT COVER YOUNG MEN CARRYING FOLDED VOTING CABINS YOUNG MEN PUTTING UP VOTING CABINS MEN CARRYING BALLOT BOXES VARIOUS OF MEN PUTTING BALLOT BOXES ON FLOOR VARIOUS OF MAN HANGING UP KYRGYZ FLAG MEN CARRYING CHAIRS MEN PUTTING CARPETS ON FLOOR / BALLOT BOX VARIOUS OF POSTER EXPLAINING VOTE PROCEDURE PEOPLE WALKING THROUGH SQUARE (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) STUDENT, ASEL, SAYING: "I will vote, I always vote. I expect that the election will bring stability, first of all, and order, this is the most important." (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) PENSIONER, VASILY, SAYING: "There have been so many problems, we all are fed up with it. We've been " for" and "against", seen bad guys and good guys, now we want stability most of all." (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) UNEMPLOYED MAN, ISKEN, SAYING: "I will not vote because I don't think this election will change anything. The same politicians are running again. They have been stealing for the past 20 years and I don't believe they can do anything good." CARS DRIVING PAST ELECTION ADS
- Embargoed: 25th October 2010 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Kyrgyzstan
- Country: Kyrgyzstan
- Topics: Domestic Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA8ZPYJPHEFG5SU0IXLL7RLIMR1
- Story Text: The prospect of the the creation of the first parliamentary democracy in Central Asia lies ahead for Kyrgyz voters as they head to the polls on Sunday (Oct. 10) in a landmark election.
Kyrgyzstan prepared to vote for parliament on Sunday (October 09) under new rules that will take power away from the presidency, after two decades of failed authoritarian rule and a tumultuous year that included a popular revolution and an outbreak of ethnic violence.
Polling stations across the capital Bishkek were readying for the vote.
Kyrgyzstan's electorate of some 2.8 million faces a hard task, with 29 political parties battling over 120 parliament seats. Analysts say only six parties have a realistic chance.
Voters will be handed 72-cm (28-inch) long ballot papers naming the parties, whose programs are often similar. All voting will be for party lists, not individual candidates.
"I will vote, I always vote. I expect that the election will bring stability, first of all, and order, this is the most important," said Asel, student from Bishkek.
Vasily Ivanovich, a pensioner, also hopes that the vote will finally bring calm to this small mountainous country.
"There have been so many problems, we all are fed up with it. We've been " for" and "against", seen bad guys and good guys, now we want stability most of all," Ivanovich said.
But Isken, an unemployed lawyer who hasn't been able to find work for the past two years, is sceptical about the election.
"I will not vote because I don't think this election will change anything. The same politicians are running again. They have been stealing for the past 20 years and I don't believe they can do anything good," he said.
President Roza Otunbayeva says the new system, adopted in a referendum in June, will make Kyrgyzstan the first parliamentary democracy in Central Asia, a region between Russia, China and Afghanistan that is otherwise ruled by presidential strongmen.
Around 800 international observers would monitor the vote, including 250 from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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