KRYGYZSTAN VOTES–BUT WAS THE ELECTION FAIR?

By Michelle Malkin  •  February 27, 2005 03:24 PM

Polls closed today in Kyrgyzstan’s parliamentary elections. The results are expected tomorrow, according to VOA News, but one opposition leader is already alleging violations of election regulations.

The Institute for War and Peace Reporting says protests about the integrity of the election process began about one week ago in Talas where “supporters of parliamentary hopeful Ravshan Jeenbekov demonstrated outside a local court house to protest the revoking of his registration. The decision was eventually reversed so that Jeenbekov was able to stand.”

Also in Talas, “followers of candidate Bolotbek Sherniyazov gathered to protest interference by the local electricity company, which promised to wipe out unpaid electricity bills for voters who backed Sherniyazov’s rival, ex-speaker of parliament Altai Borubaev.”

According to this article, the U.S. supports the opposition despite President Askar Akaev’s assistance in the War on Terror. Specifically, Akaev’s government let U.S. planes fly thorough Krygyzstan’s airspace and allowed us to use one of its military bases during our operations in Afghanistan.

The best election round-up I’ve seen is at a blog called Registan.net. Other bloggers covering the story include Gateway Pundit, Publius Pundit, and Transition Trends.

(Hat tip: Gateway Pundit.)

~ For the latest breaking news, be sure to join Michelle's e-mail list ~
Posted in: Politics

See what others have said

Note from Michelle: This section is for comments from michellemalkin.com's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that I agree with or endorse any particular comment just because I let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with my terms of use may lose his or her posting privilege.

You must be logged in to post a comment.


Pundit & Pundette

» Obama's dilemma
Follow me on Twitter Follow me on Facebook