KYRGYZSTAN: Protests against election results in south

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

ARAVAN, 3 Mar 2005 (IRIN) - Up to 3,000 people have gathered outside the municipal offices in the Aravan and Karasuu districts of the southern Kyrgyz province of Osh over the past three days in protest against last week’s national election results, officials said.

The office of the provincial prosecutor told IRIN that the protesters in Aravan were supporters of Tursunbay Alimov, head of a local village council and a defeated parliamentary candidate, were demanding a recount of ballots in one of the polling stations.

Preliminary election results indicated that Alimov's opponent, Muhamadjan Mamasaidov - president of the Kyrgyz-Uzbek University in Osh city, capital of the province with the same name, nominated by the pro-government "Alga, Kyrgyzstan" political party - won with just 355 votes more.

Under Kyrgyz election law if there are only two candidates in a one-mandate constituency then the one who gets a simple majority is considered the winner.

Alimov's supporters accused Mamasaidov and his team of vote rigging and violating other election rules. However, Makhamadibrakhim Dadajanov, head of the local election commission, told IRIN in Aravan that those allegations were questionable as Alimov's representatives hadn't put forth any claims or inquiries and had signed the election result protocol.

The situation is similar in neighbouring Karasuu district, where more than 200 people were blocking the roads linking the district with the provincial capital and the city of Uzgen, where the only road to the north of the country passes. Supporters of Arap Tolonov, one of the candidates, were protesting against alleged vote rigging and demanding repeat polls.

Officials from the district administration told IRIN that they were notified about the demonstration beforehand and didn’t have any problems with it.

But, some law-enforcement officials said that protesters’ actions were restricting the rights of other people as the main street of the district capital was blocked. Ravshan Abdukarimov, deputy head of the provincial directorate of internal affairs, told IRIN that the protest was peaceful.

Local analysts cite growing civic awareness as the driving-force behind the protests in the area, not known for its militancy.

“The main motive behind the protests is “dirty” election techniques, which were widely used during the recent election campaign,” Mominjan Mukhiddinov, a local resident, told IRIN. “People protested against such an interpretation of the elections.”

“I have seen tens of elections, but have never seen such “dirty” polls,” Halimbay Mamajanov, 80, another voter, told IRIN. “There was an open and deliberate bribing of voters through endless free meals, alcohol to young people and distribution of ‘presents’. Also it was obvious that the authorities used their administrative resources and power, while the contesting parties deployed their subordinates and some organisations that were ‘supporting’ them.”

“I am disillusioned with such democracy,” Kamiljan Halmatov, a 53-year-old driver from Aravan, said.

“Both election organisers and teams of candidates lacked one thing – ensuring and adhering to strict implementation of the law. As a result, people are confronting each other due to poor campaigning,” Rafikjan Nasriddinov, head of a local civic union uniting veterans from World War II, told IRIN.

The local authorities were not immediately available for comment, saying that all the disputes would be settled through the courts.

Meanwhile, the district court in Aravan dismissed the allegations from the defeated side on Thursday afternoon and Alimov asked his supporters to end the protest, which they did albeit unwillingly. Protests in Karasuu, however, are still under way.

[ENDS]