Nationalist politician Sader Zzabarov won the presidential elections scheduled for Kyrgyzstan. According to preliminary results, he got about 80 percent of the vote, which means that there is no need for a second round. Turnout was low due to very cold weather. Perhaps only about a third of those eligible to vote have voted in the country of 6.5 million people.

The elections were held after the violent October protests in the Central Asian country, which began after the tumultuous parliamentary elections. Then President Genbekov Has stepped up Then on.

prison

Zaparov, 52, was in prison as elections approached, accused of kidnapping a governor, but his supporters released him. According to Jabarov, it was a politically motivated operation.

After the protests, President Genbekov took to the square He must tidy upFor a while, Zjaparov was appointed Prime Minister and then president. He resigned in November to be able to participate in the elections. Meanwhile, he appointed allies in all kinds of important positions to keep power.

Relationship with Russia

Nationalist Zjabarov has repeatedly promised to preserve Kyrgyzstan’s relationship with Russia. “Russia is our strategic partner,” Zaparov said after the vote in the capital, Bishkek. The Russians have a military air base in the country and are also a destination for hundreds of thousands of Kyrgyz migrant workers. Kyrgyzstan is also dependent on financial support from Moscow.

The people of Kyrgyzstan were also able to vote on a new constitution today, which gives the president more power. It appears that the new constitution can also count on the support of about 80 percent of the electorate. A new system was not on the electoral list. Voters had a choice to keep the parliamentary system, the presidential system, or “against everything.”

According to Zaparov and his supporters, the new constitution together with the new system is necessary to give the president more executive and legislative power, as is the case in many other Central Asian countries. But critics point out that in those countries this power is also being abused by authoritarian sorts, and they fear something similar will happen in Kyrgyzstan.