Kyrgyzstan Goes to Polls As Vote-Buying Fears Rise

Kyrgyzstan's parliamentary election began on Sunday, with voters and minor parties fearful that buying a vote will spoil a rare competitive election in former Soviet Central Asia.

Voting across the country started at 0200 GMT and will end at 1400 GMT, with the first results anticipated late on Sunday, reports AFP.

Surrounded by authoritarian states with rubber-stamped legislatures, elections in mountainous Kyrgyzstan offer a vibrant and often volatile contrast.

But, with the coronavirus pandemic battering low incomes, many analysts warn that the stage is set for major electoral fraud by well-resourced parties.

Aisulu Alybayeva, a 34-year-old teacher in the capital of Bishkek, told AFP that she hoped that the parties that made it into parliament would not be the same "buying people," whose votes often cost as little as $25, according to sources.

The pandemic that saw new cases and deaths peak in July in Kyrgyzstan showed voters “how (officials) work,” Alybayeva said.

“When the pandemic hit, our lawmakers took their (scheduled) holiday. I personally took offence.”

– Rift over Russia –

Of sixteen parties competing, two are almost certain to take seats in the 120-member legislature.

The Birimdik Party (Unity) is seen as loyal to President Sooronbai Jeenbekov and includes the President's brother and former speaker, Asylbek Jeenbekov, among its candidates.

Its main competitor, Mekenim Kyrgyzstan (My Homeland Kyrgyzstan), is affiliated with the influential Matraimov family, whose figurehead Rayimbek Matraimov — a former customs official — was the object of anti-corruption protests last year.

Both parties have spoken out in favor of further integration with the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union bloc, which has increased the status of hundreds of thousands of Kyrgyz migrants working in Russia since Kyrgyzstan entered in 2015.

But Birimdik's party chief, Marat Amankulov, stirred up outrage after remarks came from him last year that it was "time to return" to Moscow.

Rivals accused him of undervaluing Kyrgyz independence.

In a meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Sochi on Monday, Jeenbekov warned of “forces” that wanted to “drive a wedge into the (Kyrgyz-Russian) alliance” — an apparent reference to a pro-sovereignty rally held in opposition to Amankulov’s comments in the capital Bishkek last Sunday.

On Friday, the state prosecutor said it was investigating a video widely distributed on messaging apps.

The video, which showed two male students from the top university secretly filmed in a hotel room, seemed to suggest that opposition parties embraced homosexuality, which is strongly frowned upon in the conservative country.

Opposition parties targeted said that this was an attempt to slander them in advance of the vote.

The state prosecutor is also investigating allegations that one group bribed the electorate with sacks of coal, the office said.

– Political drama –

Revolutions alarming two authoritarian leaders in the span of five years have been seen as the guiding force behind a new constitution to curtail authoritarian excesses and control political infighting in 2010.

Electoral legislation mandates that no party can hold more than 65 seats in the 120-member legislature.

Presidents are limited to a single six-year term — a break from the strongman pattern seen in China, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbek.

Jeenbekov will be hoping for a cooperative parliament as he prepares to live after his term expires in 2023, recognizing that his predecessor and former protector, Almazbek Atambayev, is currently languishing in prison.

Tensions between the pair escalated following Jeenbekov's election victory in 2017, culminating last year with a shootout at Atambayev 's residence between the former president 's armed supporters and the state security forces seeking to apprehend him.

Atambayev was detained on charges of illegally releasing a crime boss from jail and jailed for 11 years in June.

He has also been charged in the murder of a special forces officer who died during the raid.