Pro-presidential parties win Kyrgyz vote

05 Oct, 2020

BISHKEK: Parties close to Kyrgyzstan's pro-Russian President Sooronbai Jeenbekov appeared set Sunday to form a government following parliamentary elections overshadowed by vote-buying accusations possible political unrest. Results based on 95 percent of ballots cast showed the Birimdik party of Jeenbekov's younger brother Asylbek Jeenbekov and the Mekenim Kyrgyzstan party associated with the powerful Matraimov family - a presumed ally of the president - each getting roughly 24 percent of the vote.

A third pro-presidential party, the Kyrgyzstan Party, scored nine percent of the vote according to the preliminary count, while a nationalist party Butun Kyrgyzstan just edged past the seven percent threshold required for entry, according to Central Electoral Commission data.

Another nationalist party, Mekenchil, looked set to miss out narrowly with 6.9 percent, leaving four parties in the parliament. Kyrgyzstan has seen two presidents overthrown in revolutions since its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, but has enjoyed relative stability since 2010.

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