Kyrgyzstan: Local Elections Overshadowed by Election Commission Controversy

Local municipalities held town council elections across Kyrgyzstan October 5 with over 60 percent of the country's 2.5 million registered voters casting ballots. So far intrigue, not results, is the talk of Bishkek.

Overall, almost 500 local political posts were being contested in the October 5 voting. Results will take several days to tabulate. Turnout appeared to be comparatively light in the capital, Bishkek. Non-governmental activists questioned the accuracy of the Central Election Commission's turnout tally of 61.6 percent.

Overshadowing the vote is an ongoing controversy involving the former commission head, Klara Kabilova, who fled the country on September 25. The next day she released a videotaped statement in which she alleged the existence of a plot orchestrated by President Kurmanbek Bakiyev's son, Maxim, to suppress opposition turnout in the local elections. [For background see click here]. Kabilova claimed that the younger Bakiyev had made death threats to her as part of an effort to ensure the CEC would not get in the way of the conspiracy's implementation.

Some observers in Bishkek assert that Bakiyev's administration was intent on engineering a landslide victory for his Ak Zhol Party in the local elections, aiming to forestall opposition attempts to renew a political offensive against the president. Kyrgyzstan was embroiled by political upheaval for much of 2006 and 2007. But after a convincing victory in parliamentary elections by Ak Zhol last December, the country has been relatively calm. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

Damir Lisovsky, acting chief of the Central Election Commission, disputed Kabilova's version of events and questioned his predecessor's motives for making such statements.

In addition to the Kabilova controversy, the disappearance of opposition MP Ruslan Shabotoev has become a source of political speculation in Bishkek. Shabotoev has been missing since September 30. According to local media reports, Shabotoev left his home after receiving a call, and has not been heard from since.

Voter enthusiasm during the local elections seemed muted. At one Bishkek polling station, pensioner Tagir Mursalimov expressed frustration with the process. "As soon as they [candidates] become elected deputies, they become inaccessible," Mursalimov said. "They satisfy their personal needs and do not care for us."

Local non-governmental organization activists alleged that numerous irregularities marred the voting. "[M]ultiple voting and other violations are [noted] at almost every polling station," But Elena Voronina, a representative of the Iterbilim Human Rights Center, told reporters on October 6. Voronina added that there were numerous instances of observers facing pressure and threats. Other local election observers in Bishkek recorded improper procedures and the use of coercive measures on election day in Bishkek.