KYRGYZSTAN: Leading candidates in Kyrgyzstan presidential elections voted in the capital Bishkek

Record ID: 327613

  • Title: KYRGYZSTAN: Leading candidates in Kyrgyzstan presidential elections voted in the capital Bishkek
  • Date: 31st October 2011
  • Summary: BISHKEK, KYRGYZSTAN (OCTOBER 30, 2011) (REUTERS) ( ** BEWARE FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY **) VARIOUS OF BISHKEK STREETS VARIOUS OF MILITARY IN STREET BALLOT STATION EXTERIOR VARIOUS OF PEOPLE LOOKING AT CANDIDATES' POSTERS OUTSIDE POLLING STATION VARIOUS OF PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE ALMAZBEK ATAMBAYEV PUTTING BALLOT PAPER INTO BALLOT BOX SIGN ON BALLOT STATION READING 'BALLOT STATION NUMBER1209' ATAMBAYEV TALKING TO JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE ALMAZBEK ATAMBAYEV, SAYING: "I think that people are tired of all these political battles and rallies. I think, with God's help, I hope, the period of stability is starting here, when people will just work peacefully and not have to deal with elections and upsets every year. Kyrgyzstan needs to start working." EXTERIOR OF POLLING STATION PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE ADAKHAN MADUMAROV GETTING BALLOT PAPER BALLOT PAPER ON TABLE MADUMAROV AND HIS WIFE PUTTING BALLOT PAPERS INTO BALLOT BOX BALLOT BOX (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE ADAKHAN MADUMAROV, SAYING: "Why should I lose? I think I should be a realist, not an optimist, not a pessimist, but a realist. I think with God's help I have earned a second round." VARIOUS OF EXTERIOR OF POLLING STATION KYRGYZ PRESIDENT ROZA OTUNBAYEVA ENTERING POLLING STATION OTUNBAYEVA FILLING IN BALLOT PAPER OTUNBAYEVA PUTTING BALLOT PAPER INTO BALLOT BOX, PEOPLE APPLAUDING JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) KYRGYZ PRESIDENT ROZA OTUNBAYEVA, SAYING: "It is simply ridiculous to talk about (using) administrative resources. I believe that these elections - the same way as the parliamentary ones did - create absolutely equal opportunities for all candidates. None of them has any advantages over other candidates." OTUNBAYEVA TALKING TO JOURNALISTS VARIOUS OF BISHKEK STREETS
  • Embargoed: 15th November 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Kyrgyzstan, Kyrgyzstan
  • Country: Kyrgyzstan
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA9J6I6SP8FF30FWPC8RRF1M8K3
  • Story Text: Leading candidates in Kyrgyzstan presidential elections voted in the capital Bishkek, a city coated in the first snow of winter on Sunday (October 30).
    The election is set to expose a cultural north-south divide that will challenge the next president to make good on his promises to unite the strategic Central Asian state.
    A strong and united Kyrgyzstan is practically the only key policy shared by Prime Minister Almazbek Atambayev and his main challengers for the presidency, trained boxer Kamchibek Tashiyev and ex-national billiards champion Adakhan Madumarov.
    Northern voters in the mainly Muslim country of 5.5 million are putting their faith in Atambayev to complete a transition to parliamentary democracy that sets Kyrgyzstan apart from the more authoritarian former Soviet republics that surround it.
    "I think that people are tired of all these political battles and rallies. I think, with God's help, I hope, the period of stability is starting here, when people will just work peacefully and not have to deal with elections and upsets every year. Kyrgyzstan needs to start working," Atambayev told journalists after voting in one of Bishkek's polling stations.
    Two rival candidates in the poorer, more agrarian south see the election as their opportunity to draw on the nationalist vote to reverse the bold reforms set in motion by a bloody revolt that toppled the last elected president in April 2010.
    Opinion polls have made Atambayev the clear favourite, although some analysts doubt he can secure the required 50 percent of votes to win outright. Should he fall short, he will face a run-off against a strong challenger from the south.
    One of the southern candidates, leader of Butun Kyrgyzstan (United Kyrgyzstan) party Adakhan Madumarov, wants to reverse the constitutional reforms to give equal prominence to the presidency and parliament.
    Speaking after casting his vote on Sunday, Madumarov said he was confident of winning the second round of the elections.
    "Why should I lose? I think I should be a realist, not an optimist, not a pessimist, but a realist. I think with God's help I have earned a second round, " Madumarov said.
    The election is being closely watched by the United States and Russia, which operate military air bases in the country and share concerns about drug trafficking and the spillover of Islamist militancy from nearby Afghanistan.
    Atambayev's policies are closest to those of outgoing President Roza Otunbayeva, whose administration watered down the power of the presidency after Kurmanbek Bakiyev was ousted, bringing to an end two decades of failed authoritarian rule.
    Some of the candidates blamed Otunbayeva and Atambayev of using the so-called 'administrative resources' in their campaign, but Otunbayeva waved those accusations aside, saying each of the parties were already represented in the parliament.
    "It is simply ridiculous to talk about (using) administrative resources. I believe that these elections -- the same way as the parliamentary ones did -- create absolutely equal opportunities for all candidates. None of them has any advantages over other candidates," Otunbayeva told journalists at a polling station on Sunday.
    The next president will be permitted by the current constitution to serve a single 6-year term and will appoint the defence minister and national security head. The field of 16 candidates and the unpredictability of the result make Kyrgyzstan stand apart in formerly Soviet Central Asia, a region otherwise governed by authoritarian presidents.
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