After protests: Kyrgysztan election results annulled
After fierce protests in which hundreds of people were injured, the results of Kyrgyzstan's parliamentary elections have been annulled. According to the initial results four parties gained seats in parliament, three of which have close ties to President Sooronbay Jeenbekov, while the main opposition parties failed to clear the seven-percent hurdle. The OSCE has pointed to "credible" reports of vote buying. What comes next?
Worthy president wanted
Bazarbay Mambetov, former deputy prime minister of Kyrgyzstan, writes on liga.net:
“The people of Kyrgyzstan had to vote via lists. These lists were put together by oligarchs, corrupt officials, and organised groups of politicians. ... After the election results were announced on October 5, thousands took to the streets of Bishkek to demand the resignation of those in power and the annullment of the election results. Only four of the sixteen parties made it into parliament. Three of them have close ties with President Sooronbay Jeenbekov. ... Now the most important and difficult challenge is to elect a president who will hold that office with dignity and become a true leader of the nation.”
For once foreign powers are not involved
There are many reasons for the revolution in Kyrgyzstan, but all of them are home-made, Echo of Moscow stresses:
“First of all there's the irresponsible behaviour of the state power, which failed to prevent the ruling party from abusing the state apparatus [to gain an electoral advantage] - and another party close to the government from cynically buying votes. Then there's the irresponsibility of the leaders of the parties that did not get into parliament. They called their people out on the streets and then were unable to prevent unrest and chaos in their ranks, which resulted in another vicious pogrom in the presidential palace. There is no trace of a 'colour revolution' or troublemakers sent in by the US State Department. Equally, there's no evidence of meddling by Turkey, China, or a 'Soros'.”