CAU-KYRGYZ-ELECTIONS 2

Kyrgyz polls: main opposition leader ahead in electoral district

The former mayor of Bishkek, leader of the Ar-Namys (Honour) Party which was
barred from running in the parliamentary polls, Feliks Kulov, is in the
lead in his single-mandate electoral district in the northwestern Talas
Region, Kyrgyz TV reported at 1145 gmt on 21st February. In a live
broadcast from the Central Electoral Commission, the correspondent said
that according to preliminary results of the elections to the Legislative
Assembly (standing chamber) of parliament in Talas Region, "the Kara-Bura
electoral distict No 44, a total of 91.94 per cent of protocols have been
received. The leaders: [Feliks] Kulov is in first place with a result of
36.21 per cent and Sultanov is in second place with 17 per cent exactly."

A candidate needs to poll 51 per cent of the votes in his or her electoral
district in order to win.

Source: Kyrgyz Television first channel, Bishkek, in Russian 1145 gmt 21 Feb
00

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CAU-KYRGYZ-ELECTIONS 4
Kyrgyz electoral chief: observers violated electoral law

The chairman of the Kyrgyz Central Electoral Commission, Sulayman Imanbayev,
told a news conference at the commission on 21st February that a number of
observers, in particular representatives of nongovernmental organizations,
had "seriously violated" Kyrgyz electoral law and also international
standards during the voting in the parliamentary polls the previous day. He
said that Kyrgyzstan's "first experiment has failed" because neither
electoral commissions nor observers were ready.

Kyrgyz TV carried a live broadcast of the news conference.

Giving an update on the results at at 1400 local time, 0900 gmt, Imanbayev,
speaking in Russian, said that in some cases, the observers had upstaged
the voters:

"As you know, elections are held so that voters may come to polling stations
and cast their votes without hindrance. Unfortunately, it has been the
observers rather than the voters who have played the main role at polling
stations in these elections. As you know, we have ensured the full
transparency, accessibility and openness of the elections. About 5,000
observers, public and nongovernmental organizations have monitored the
election of candidates for parliamentary seats, political parties and
electoral blocs. The Central Electoral Commission accredited over 200
international observers [to Kyrgyzstan]. There were several dozen observers
at each of the 2,057 polling stations, and their number amounted to 60 at
some polling stations in Bishkek. In some polling stations observers took
up most of the room in the polling stations. Video cameras were filming and
photographs were constantly being taken. It was crowded and noisy. Voters
targeted by dozens of eyes tried to cast their vote and leave the premises
as soon as possible. Observers, of course, have not been correct all the
time. Somehow, they acted as if they owned the polling stations.

"Some people demanded that the electoral commissions give them telephones
and faxes to send reports and issued other instructions. One observer
almost sat on the ballot box in a polling station in Bishkek, and said
provocatively the electoral code did not stipulate that he was not entitled
to sit there.

"A representative of the NGO coalition for Civil Society and Democracy
organized a meeting and in order better to prove his point he invited
international observers as spectators. We cannot understand what the
coalition wanted to prove by this. Members of the Central Electoral
Commission were specially asked to come and relieve the tension at this
polling station and established order there: this was at school No 29. Most
of you may know it.

"All these things occurred under the pretext of protecting the rights of
voters, who following this incident failed to come to this polling station.
We know that many observers, especially NGOs, have turned this work into
their profession and thought that they knew their duties to observe the
elections within the framework of the OSCE commitments. We welcomed
cooperation with them and gave them the green light to work.

"They did not observe the (?Copenhagen commitments on the human factor) nor
the requirements of the Code of the Kyrgyz Republic, namely Article 17 on
openness in the work of electoral commissions. Unfortunately, many
independent observers have gravely violated not only Kyrgyz laws but also
international norms, in particular, the code of behaviour for election
observrs, about which I have spoken above.

"Our laws, unlike the laws of many democratic countries, have created very
favourable conditions for observers. However, the first experiment has
failed. It appeared that neither the electoral commissions nor the
observers were ready. Especially precinct electoral commissions were
literally confused yesterday. As you know, in line with the code on
elections, there must be only one observer present, one authorized person
from each candidate and from each NGO. You may have seen yesterday, and I
have said earlier that this was not the case, for some NGOs had between
three and six observers in each polling station at the same time. I think
that in future we must ensure above all the necessary conditions for
voters, so that they will be able to express their will and vote freely
without any psychological or physical influence being exerted by a large
number of people at the polling station."

Fuller processing of remainder of report upcoming.

Source: Kyrgyz Television first channel, Bishkek, in Kyrgyz 0900 gmt 21 Feb
00

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CAU-KYRGYZ-ELECTIONS 5
Communists still ahead in Kyrgyz polls with 28 per cent

The chairman of the Kyrgyz Central Electoral Commission, Sulayman Imanbayev,
told Kyrgyz TV on 21st February that with 84.5 per cent of the returns in
the republican-wide electoral district - in other words, the voting on
party lists - the Party of Communists of Kyrgyzstan was leading among the
political parties contesting the parliamentary polls.

"A total of 390,000 voters cast their votes in favour of the Party of
Communists of Kyrgyzstan and it received 27.7 per cent of votes. A total of
17.12 per cent cast their votes for the Union of Democratic Forces
electoral bloc. The Democratic Party of Women of Kyrgyzstan is in third
place with 12.76 votes cast in their favour."

Imanbayev said that the Party of Veterans of the War in Afghanistan and of
Participants in Other Local Conflicts gained 8.5 per cent of votes and that
the Fatherland (Ata-Meken) Socialist Party gained 6 per cent; the My
Country Party gained 5.3 per cent and the Erkin Kyrgyzstan (ErK)
Progressive and Democratic Party were nearing the 5-per-cent barrier.

Imanbayev said that "it will be known within the next two or three days how
many seats which party will have in the Legislative Assembly of those 15
seats allotted".

Asked about the deputies elected in single-seat electoral districts, he said
that 81-year old former Soviet communist leader Turdakun Usubaliyev, and
the brother of Kyrgyz President Askar Akayev had been elected, amongst
others.

Source: Kyrgyz Television first channel, Bishkek, in Kyrgyz 1400 gmt 21 Feb
00

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