Kyrgyzstan to repeat parliamentary vote in December
Last updated on: 21 October,2020 10:42 am
Parliament must now set a date for presidential elections.
BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan (AFP) - Kyrgyzstan will hold fresh parliamentary elections on December 20, the Central Asian country’s electoral authority said Wednesday, after a previous vote was annulled over unrest that unseated a president.
Members of the Central Electoral Commission agreed to the new date unanimously, a statement from the CEC said.
Allegations of vote-buying in the October 4 parliamentary vote raised by a mission of international monitors and losing parties sparked a protest that morphed into clashes between police and demonstrators.
Central government all but disappeared in the week that followed as rival groups contested executive positions.
Sooronbay Jeenbekov resigned as president last Thursday, allowing populist Sadyr Japarov, who had been approved as prime minister the day before, to take over as acting head of state.
Parliament must now set a date for presidential elections.
According to the current constitution, 51-year-old Japarov will be unable to run for office unless he leaves his posts before the electoral period begins.
Kyrgyzstan is the most democratic of the five former Soviet states of Central Asia but also the most volatile.
Jeenbekov was the third president to resign on the back of political unrest since independence in 1991.
The turbulence has worried key partner Russia, which maintains a military base in the country and is a destination for hundreds of thousands of Kyrgyz migrants.