Share Story
Send to KindleRelated News
Kyrgyz approve new constitution
Source: Agencies |
June 28, 2010, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
Kyrgyzstan voted yesterday to create Central Asia's first parliamentary democracy, its interim leader said, in a landmark referendum two weeks after an explosion of ethnic bloodshed.
Roza Otunbayeva said the country had embarked on the path to establishing a "true people's democracy" in contrast to previous presidential systems.
"The new constitution of the Kyrgyz republic has been approved," she said at a news conference in the capital Bishkek, after earlier voting amid heavy security in the troubled southern city of Osh.
"We are proud of our people. We are proud of our country, which made this choice at a difficult hour."
At least 283 people, and possibly hundreds more, died this month in violence between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks in southern Kyrgyzstan.
Under the new charter, Otunbayeva, the first woman to lead a Central Asian state, will be interim president until the end of 2011. Parliamentary elections will be held every five years and the president limited to a single six-year term.
The referendum asked voters to support changes to the constitution that will devolve power from the president to a prime minister, paving the way for parliamentary elections in October and diplomatic recognition for the interim government.
Otunbayeva said 65 percent of the electorate had voted. The central election commission put the figure at 57.74 percent, although ballot papers were still being counted after polls closed at 8:00pm. No minimum turnout was required.
Otunbayeva, a former ambassador to the United States and Britain, took power after a revolt in April overthrew President Kurmanbek Bakiyev. Though from the south, she has struggled to gain control of the region, Bakiyev's family stronghold.
In a clear reference to her predecessor, Otunbayeva said: "Today the nation said: 'No to family clan regimes'."
From his exile in Belarus, Bakiyev has earlier dismissed the referendum and the leader who replaced him, saying her behaviour was "frivolous and irresponsible".
"She is leading the country into a dead end," he said in an interview in the online edition of German weekly Der Spiegel. "A strong president acts more swiftly."
The bloodshed deepened divisions between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks who have roughly equal shares of the population in the south.
Many ethnic Uzbeks said they were targeted in the violence and were loath to support the referendum, seeing it as a Kyrgyz initiative.
Election officials accompanied by armed guards carried transparent ballot boxes to locals who were too afraid to visit the polling stations, ticking off names as the boxes filled up.
Roza Otunbayeva said the country had embarked on the path to establishing a "true people's democracy" in contrast to previous presidential systems.
"The new constitution of the Kyrgyz republic has been approved," she said at a news conference in the capital Bishkek, after earlier voting amid heavy security in the troubled southern city of Osh.
"We are proud of our people. We are proud of our country, which made this choice at a difficult hour."
At least 283 people, and possibly hundreds more, died this month in violence between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks in southern Kyrgyzstan.
Under the new charter, Otunbayeva, the first woman to lead a Central Asian state, will be interim president until the end of 2011. Parliamentary elections will be held every five years and the president limited to a single six-year term.
The referendum asked voters to support changes to the constitution that will devolve power from the president to a prime minister, paving the way for parliamentary elections in October and diplomatic recognition for the interim government.
Otunbayeva said 65 percent of the electorate had voted. The central election commission put the figure at 57.74 percent, although ballot papers were still being counted after polls closed at 8:00pm. No minimum turnout was required.
Otunbayeva, a former ambassador to the United States and Britain, took power after a revolt in April overthrew President Kurmanbek Bakiyev. Though from the south, she has struggled to gain control of the region, Bakiyev's family stronghold.
In a clear reference to her predecessor, Otunbayeva said: "Today the nation said: 'No to family clan regimes'."
From his exile in Belarus, Bakiyev has earlier dismissed the referendum and the leader who replaced him, saying her behaviour was "frivolous and irresponsible".
"She is leading the country into a dead end," he said in an interview in the online edition of German weekly Der Spiegel. "A strong president acts more swiftly."
The bloodshed deepened divisions between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks who have roughly equal shares of the population in the south.
Many ethnic Uzbeks said they were targeted in the violence and were loath to support the referendum, seeing it as a Kyrgyz initiative.
Election officials accompanied by armed guards carried transparent ballot boxes to locals who were too afraid to visit the polling stations, ticking off names as the boxes filled up.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
