Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
Edition:
U.S.
Africa
Arabic
Argentina
Brazil
Canada
China
France
Germany
India
Italy
Japan
Latin America
Mexico
Russia
Spain
United Kingdom
Home
Business
Business Home
Economy
Technology
Media
Small Business
Green Business
Legal
Deals
Earnings
Summits
Business Video
Markets
Markets Home
U.S. Markets
European Markets
Asian Markets
Global Market Data
Indices
M&A
Stocks
Bonds
Currencies
Commodities
Futures
Funds
peHUB
World
World Home
U.S.
Brazil
China
Euro Zone
Japan
Mexico
Russia
Afghan Journal
Africa Journal
India Insight
Global News Journal
Pakistan: Now or Never?
World Video
Politics
Politics Home
Front Row Washington
Politics Video
Technology
Technology Home
MediaFile
Science
Tech Video
Opinion
Opinion Home
Chrystia Freeland
Felix Salmon
John Lloyd
Jack Shafer
Breakingviews
David Rohde
Bernd Debusmann
Gregg Easterbrook
Nader Mousavizadeh
James Saft
David Cay Johnston
Edward Hadas
Hugo Dixon
Ian Bremmer
Mohamed El-Erian
Lawrence Summers
Susan Glasser
The Great Debate
Newsmaker
Money
Money Home
Analyst Research
Global Investing
MuniLand
Reuters Money Blog
John Wasik
Unstructured Finance
Alerts
Watchlist
Portfolio
Stock Screener
Fund Screener
Personal Finance Video
Life & Culture
Health
Sports
Arts
Faithworld
Business Traveler
Left Field
Entertainment
Oddly Enough
Lifestyle Video
Pictures
Pictures Home
Reuters Photographers
Full Focus
Video
Article
Comments (0)
Full Focus
Photos of the week
Our top photos from the past week in Full Focus. Full Article
Follow Reuters
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
YouTube
Read
Jobless US vets say military experience not valued
29 Oct 2011
UPDATE 2-Rare, deadly October storm hangs on in Northeast
2:30pm EDT
Syria's Assad warns of "earthquake" if West intervenes: report
29 Oct 2011
Insight: Dreaded "Brazil cost" may dim Foxconn's iPad dreams
12:13pm EDT
Commentary says China not a "savior" for Europe
|
2:42pm EDT
Discussed
289
Obama to announce help on housing, student loans
116
Two abortion clinic employees plead guilty to murder
92
Nazi jokes, wrath at Germans highlight Greek despair
Watched
New CPR technique revives man after 63 minutes without pulse
Thu, Oct 27 2011
Video purports to show Gaddafi capture
Mon, Oct 24 2011
Occupying Wall Street in the snow
Sat, Oct 29 2011
Kyrgyz PM leads race for presidency in tense vote
Tweet
Share this
Email
Print
Related News
Tense Kyrgyz vote tests democratic reforms
11:19am EDT
Tunisian Islamists to propose their man for PM's job
Wed, Oct 26 2011
Islamists head for win in Tunisia's Arab Spring vote
Tue, Oct 25 2011
Huge turnout in Tunisia's Arab Spring election
Sun, Oct 23 2011
Analysis & Opinion
Winter descends on the Arab spring
Tunisia’s moderate Islamists win vote, leader says rights are assured
Related Topics
World »
Members of a local electoral commission count ballots after closing a poll at a polling station in the southern city of Osh October 30, 2011.
Credit: Reuters/Shamil Zhumatov
By Olga Dzyubenko
BISHKEK |
Sun Oct 30, 2011 4:07pm EDT
BISHKEK (Reuters) - Kyrgyzstan's prime minister was on target to win a presidential election in the strategic former Soviet republic Monday, with more than half the votes counted in an election that rival candidates say was marred by fraud and poor administration.
The election is a key test of bold reforms aimed at making Kyrgyzstan the first parliamentary democracy in Central Asia after two decades of failed authoritarian rule that triggered a bloody revolution in April last year.
A trouble-free election would signal the first peaceful transfer of power in the mainly Muslim country, where both Russia and the United States operate military air bases, but several disgruntled candidates say they will reject the outcome.
With 53 percent of ballots counted, Moscow-backed Prime Minister Almazbek Atambayev had 65 percent of the vote, an outright majority that would avoid the need for a second round run-off against a potentially strong rival from the south.
The results could yet change as votes are tallied around the landlocked, mountainous country of 5.5 million people. The Central Election Commission said voter turnout was slightly over 60 percent.
Atambayev's two main challengers from a field of 16 candidates were each polling below 15 percent. Both enjoy strong nationalist support in the poorer south of the country and have vowed to contest any result they believe to be unfair.
Though both have insisted their subsequent actions will be lawful, they have refused to rule out street protests. Any show of public discontent raises the threat of renewed violence and could accentuate a north-south political and cultural divide.
Atambayev, born in the Russian-leaning north of Kyrgyzstan, is the flag-bearer of reforms set in motion by outgoing leader Roza Otunbayeva when she assumed the presidency in a caretaker role after the revolution.
The reforms have watered down the powers of the president and established parliament as the main decision-making body.
Both of Atambayev's main challengers, Adakhan Madumarov and Kamchibek Tashiyev, say they wish to reverse these reforms.
Madumarov, in third place with 53 percent of votes counted, was among a group of candidates who declared the results invalid even before polls closed Sunday, saying that many voters had been left off the electoral roll.
The other leading southern candidate, former emergencies minister Kamchibek Tashiyev, has said "millions" would take to the streets if they believed the elections to be unfair. He was placing second, with 14 percent of the vote.
The next president will be allowed by the current constitution to serve a single 6-year term and will appoint the defense minister and national security head.
Stamping out graft will be a major challenge to the next leader of a country that ranked level with the Democratic Republic of Congo in Transparency International's 2010 Corruption Perceptions Index.
Per capita GDP in Kyrgyzstan, at below $1,000, is less than a tenth of that in its oil-rich neighbor Kazakhstan. The economy relies heavily on remittances from migrant workers and the production of a single gold mine.
(Additional reporting and writing by Robin Paxton; editing by Tim Pearce)
World
Tweet this
Link this
Share this
Digg this
Email
Reprints
We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/
Comments (0)
Be the first to comment on reuters.com.
Add yours using the box above.
Social Stream (What's this?)
Edition:
U.S.
Africa
Arabic
Argentina
Brazil
Canada
China
France
Germany
India
Italy
Japan
Latin America
Mexico
Russia
Spain
United Kingdom
Back to top
Reuters.com
Business
Markets
World
Politics
Technology
Opinion
Money
Pictures
Videos
Site Index
Legal
Bankruptcy Law
California Legal
New York Legal
Securities Law
Support & Contact
Contact Us
Advertise With Us
Connect with Reuters
Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn
RSS
Podcast
Newsletters
Mobile
About
Privacy Policy
Terms of Use
Our Flagship financial information platform incorporating Reuters Insider
An ultra-low latency infrastructure for electronic trading and data distribution
A connected approach to governance, risk and compliance
Our next generation legal research platform
Our global tax workstation
Thomsonreuters.com
About Thomson Reuters
Investor Relations
Careers
Contact Us
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.