Kyrgyzstan goes to polls
Monday, 28 June 2010
OSH, Kyrgyzstan, June 27 (AP): The people of violence-ravaged Kyrgyzstan went to polls Sunday on a new constitution weeks after deadly ethnic cleansing-a vote that could legitimise the interim government.
Security was tightened in the Central Asian nation for the vote as almost 8,000 police officers along with equal number of defense volunteers was deployed to maintain peace and order after ethnic rioting that killed hundreds.
Roza Otunbayeva, interim president, said the vote was proof of her country's strength as she voted in the city of Osh, where entire neighborhoods were destroyed this month during clashes between ethnic Uzbeks and Kyrgyz communities.
"In this referendum, the people of Kyrgyzstan are proving that the country is united, standing on its feet and going forward," Otunbayeva said after coming out of the state university polling centre. "As a people, we want to heal the wounds we have sustained in recent times."
By choosing to vote in Osh, the country's second largest city, Otunbayeva seemingly attempted to convey a signal that her country has overcome the instability in the south that has rocked her fragile government over recent months.
The vote - supported by the UN, the US and Russia - is seen as an important step on the road to democracy for the interim government, which came to power after former President Kurmanbek Bakiyev was toppled under pressure from public protests in April.
In at least two Uzbek neighborhoods of Osh, the turnout was robust within minutes of the polls opening.
"We have to support this referendum, because it should not just be the president that takes decisions," said Nazir Mamataliyev, a 55-year-old barber and ethnic Uzbek, who said he voted for the new constitution. "Making choices for our country should be a collective process."
Retired schoolteacher Turdykhan Tadzhibayeva (70), an ethnic Kyrgyz, was doubtful, saying she regretted the overthrow of Bakiyev.
"I don't expect anything of this referendum, because we don't even know what's written in the constitution," Tadzhibayeva said. "In Kyrgyzstan, the people that draw up the law themselves break the law within the space of six months."
Asked whether the government would step down if it failed to win majority support in the referendum, interim Finance Minister Terim Sariyev, who was voting in Bishkek, the capital, said they would decide after the ballots are counted.
Security was tightened in the Central Asian nation for the vote as almost 8,000 police officers along with equal number of defense volunteers was deployed to maintain peace and order after ethnic rioting that killed hundreds.
Roza Otunbayeva, interim president, said the vote was proof of her country's strength as she voted in the city of Osh, where entire neighborhoods were destroyed this month during clashes between ethnic Uzbeks and Kyrgyz communities.
"In this referendum, the people of Kyrgyzstan are proving that the country is united, standing on its feet and going forward," Otunbayeva said after coming out of the state university polling centre. "As a people, we want to heal the wounds we have sustained in recent times."
By choosing to vote in Osh, the country's second largest city, Otunbayeva seemingly attempted to convey a signal that her country has overcome the instability in the south that has rocked her fragile government over recent months.
The vote - supported by the UN, the US and Russia - is seen as an important step on the road to democracy for the interim government, which came to power after former President Kurmanbek Bakiyev was toppled under pressure from public protests in April.
In at least two Uzbek neighborhoods of Osh, the turnout was robust within minutes of the polls opening.
"We have to support this referendum, because it should not just be the president that takes decisions," said Nazir Mamataliyev, a 55-year-old barber and ethnic Uzbek, who said he voted for the new constitution. "Making choices for our country should be a collective process."
Retired schoolteacher Turdykhan Tadzhibayeva (70), an ethnic Kyrgyz, was doubtful, saying she regretted the overthrow of Bakiyev.
"I don't expect anything of this referendum, because we don't even know what's written in the constitution," Tadzhibayeva said. "In Kyrgyzstan, the people that draw up the law themselves break the law within the space of six months."
Asked whether the government would step down if it failed to win majority support in the referendum, interim Finance Minister Terim Sariyev, who was voting in Bishkek, the capital, said they would decide after the ballots are counted.