Five parties have reached the threshold of 5% of votes, a sixth party, short a few hundred votes, is conceded a recount. It seems difficult to form a government, with seats divided among parties in strong opposition. The role of Russia and the United States.

Bishkek (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The political situation in Kyrgyzstan remains uncertain after the October 10 elections which saw five parties divide the 120-seat parliament. The winning parties have agreed on a recount, which could allow even the Nationalist Party Butun Kyrgyzstan (Bk) to get seats.

The electoral law only allocates seats to parties that have obtained at least 5% of the votes on a national basis (as well as a percentage of 0.5% in each of 9 electoral districts). The Bk Party reached 4.84%, but on  October 12hundreds of supporters took to the streets demanding a recount, convinced the party had the most votes and that, moreover, the total number of voters was less than the official figure that indicates the percentage still low at 57% turnout. This would allow the Bk of a quorum of 5%.

The 5% threshold was exceeded by five of the 29 parties that presented themselves for election with percentages ranging from 8.8% to 6%; as a result these five parties together make up less than half the votes cast, even if divided among seats. They are the nationalist Ata-Jurt (which according to the Central Election Commission should have 29 seats of the 120 to be assigned), considered sympathetic to the former President Kurmanbek Bakiyev toppled from power during the protests last April, the Social Democratic Party which supports the Interim government (26 seats), the pro-Russian opposition party Ar-Namys and another party Respublika which shares neither government or opposition positions (which should have 23 seats each) and the pro-government party Ata-Meken of Omurbek Tekebayev (19 seats), the main author of the new constitution that transformed the country from presidential to parliamentary republic, a change approved in June by 90% of the electorate, but not acceptable to Moscow.

The leaders of Ata-Jurt and Ar-Namys have already declared their intention to reintroduce a presidential republic. A coalition government for the majority of 61 seats is necessary, but any agreement would be too complex given the considerable differences between some parties and the strong personalities of their leaders. All expect that negotiations will take weeks.

The new government will replace the interim one led by Roza Otunbayeva, who took office with the ouster of Bakiyev. If an agreement is not reached, Otunbayeva could dissolve parliament and call new elections. However, many experts point out that the interim government has never had a real cohesion, born in a hurry after a meeting of several opponents of Bakiyev, and increasingly fractious after the constitutional reform of June.

The new government will face serious problems with a troubled economy, widespread poverty and many families now on the edge of survival. It will also face a difficult process of national reconciliation after ethnic clashes in June in the south that caused hundreds of deaths and approximately 400 thousand refugees.

The small country, poor in natural resources, has an important strategic position. Both Russia and the United States have military bases here and are pushing to increase their presence. Two days ago, U.S. officials met with all wining parties, to discuss an agreement to maintain the Manas airbase, which is essential for supplies to NATO troops in Afghanistan. The country is also a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization along with Russia and China.

 

• KYRGYZSTAN
• ELECTIONS
• VOTE
• RECOUNT
• GOVERNMENT
• ECONOMY
• POVERTY
• STRATEGIC
• USA
• RUSSIA