Kyrgyzstan votes for new president

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Map of Kyrgyzstan

 

 

 

 

 

 

National Flag

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Coat of Arms whilst in the USSR

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Current Coat of Arms

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2009/07/200972321716598441.html 

Bakiev, who has increased government spending, salaries and pensions, is expected to sail through to secure another five-year term.

But Thursday’s poll will be watched closely for any signs of unrest that could disturb peace in Central Asia, given the country’s strategic location for US-led military efforts against the Taliban in neighbouring Afghanistan.

Voters in the former Soviet state of Kyrgyzstan have begun casting their ballots in an election widely expected to return Kurmanbek Bakiev, the incumbent president, to power.

Some 2.7 million people from the country’s nomadic settlements in the north to the ethnically divided south started voting at 02:00 GMT on Thursday. Polling will end at 14:00 GMT.

Analysts say Kyrgyzstan’s stability is vital to the region’s.

The country and region have been largely peaceful since 2005 but tensions have risen in recent weeks with some analysts saying intensified fighting in nearby Afghanistan and Pakistan may have led to some Taliban fighters of Central Asian origin returning to the region.

In the past months, Kyrgyz forces have engaged in gun battles with fighters that the authorities describe as Islamist rebels but critics accused Bakiev of using the excuse of an Islamist threat in the mostly Muslim nation to bolster his re-election chances and win concessions from the US and Russia.

Security was tight across Kyrgyzstan ahead of the vote, with 5,000 officers on high alert and extra measures enforced in the border areas.

The interior ministry said on the eve of the vote that its forces had confiscated more than 300 illegal guns and ammunition in special operations across the country.

Kyrgyzstan’s proximity to Afghanistan has propelled it to the forefront of Russian-US rivalry in Central Asia, with both Moscow and Washington operating military bases in its mountainous territory.

Bakiev seems to have exploited that rivalry, telling the US earlier this year to get out from its airbase in Manas, which is crucial to US operations in Afghanistan, after receiving more than $2bn in aid and loan guarantees from Moscow.

But the US was in June allowed to stay after agreeing to pay three times more rent to Kyrgyzstan, from $17.4m to $60m a year.

Elected in 2005 in a poll seen as free and fair by Western observers, Bakiev has been accused by the opposition of becoming increasingly repressive and curtailing civil liberties.

The government said it was doing everything to ensure the vote was fair and transparent.

Bakiev’s steps to tighten his grip on power and a string of mysterious attacks on politicians and journalists in the run-up to the election have caused concern among voters.

Ilkhom, a trader at a market in the city of Osh, told Reuters “people are unhappy, things have been difficult with the crisis and there is a feeling Bakiev is not doing anything”.

“Authorities are blind, all they want is bribes.”

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strategically placed bordering china..this is another country in central asia that we have to keep an eye on..rich with natural resources..have a look at the flag..nice illuminating sun..and the coat of arms is another example of illuminati symbology..a good reason to watch them closely..ties with russia and the usa..we will watch them closely..another bastion of top level bribery from the looks

401

~ by seeker401 on July 23, 2009.