2011 Kyrgyz presidential election
30 October 2011
 
Nominee Almazbek Atambayev Adakhan Madumarov Kamchybek Tashiev
Party SDPK Butun Kyrgyzstan Ata-Zhurt
Popular vote 1,161,929 274,639 266,189
Percentage 63.83% 15.09% 14.62%
Results by district
President before election

Roza Otunbayeva
SDPK

 President-elect

Almazbek Atambayev
SDPK

Early presidential elections were held in Kyrgyzstan on 30 October 2011[1] to replace Interim President Roza Otunbayeva. Former Prime Minister Almazbek Atambayev of the Social Democratic Party of Kyrgyzstan won in the first round.[2]

Background

The election followed the 2010 Kyrgyzstani riots, during which the incumbent President Kurmanbek Bakiyev was ousted by protesters and an interim government led by Roza Otunbayeva was formed.[3] An election and reform plan was unveiled on 19 April 2010.[4]

Presidential terms

Under the new constitution, the presidential term is six years long, but re-election is barred.[5]

Date

The election date was announced on 22 April 2010; a constitutional referendum to reduce presidential powers and strengthen democracy was held on 27 June 2010.[6]

On 19 May 2010, it was announced that the presidential elections would not be held on 10 October 2010 together with parliamentary elections, but rather in October 2011, and that Otunbayeva would remain president until 31 December 2011.[7]

Candidates

The Central Election Commission announced that eighty-three candidates filed to run in the election by the deadline of 16 August. 16 candidates were nominated by parties, while the rest self-nominated. The candidates would have to collect 30,000 signatures, pay a fee of 100,000 Kyrgyzstani soms and pass a televised language test to run for the office of president.[8] Sixteen candidates then qualified to run in the election.[9]

The candidates included:

The incumbent Otunbayeva stated that she would not run in the election.[14] Omurbek Tekebayev, party leader of the opposition Ata Meken Socialist Party, declared he would not be a candidate for the presidency on 22 September.[15]

Campaign

Atambayev had the most funds for his campaign and gained a significant share of exposure, thus he said the election could be over in one round. He added "I have bright hopes; it is time for our country to live, achieve harmony and flourish. People are tired of political battles and meetings." However Tashiyev and Adakha Madumarov on multiple occasions suggested that there could be vote-rigging during the election. Tashiyev said that: "The main thing is that there should be no evidence of fraud and the election results must not be falsified."[9]

Following the ethnic riots in 2010, tensions between the indigenous Kyrgyz and Uzbeks continue to be volatile in the south with the region being viewed as a political battleground.[9]

Opinion polls

Opinion polls suggested Atambayev was the clear favourite.[12] Madumarov and Tashiyev, both from the south, being Atambayev's closest challengers.[11]

Conduct

The CEC announced on 21 July that it had accredited 40 television and radio broadcasting companies, as well as 103 print media outlets to cover the election, however it refused to consider doing so for 11 internet news agencies.[16] The OSCE said that almost 400 international observers from 41 countries would monitor the election.[9]

Douglas Wake, a monitor from the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, said that the election was competitive, but there were some issues in regards to the voter lists and the transparency of the process. Sooronbay Dyikanov said that he could not vote because his name was not on the voter list. The central election committee said that this was a mistake, and regional election commissions were the ones who were responsible for this. At the same time Dyikanov said that this was done deliberately. There were numerous other voters who could not vote for the same reason.[13]

Adakhan Madumarov and five other candidates said they would reject the result as several people could not vote according to their "constitutional rights" and that there had been multiple voting.[12]

Results

Former Prime Minister Atambayev won the presidential election by a large margin in the first round and became the new President of Kyrgyzstan.[2] Over 60% voter turnout was recorded.[12]

CandidatePartyVotes%
Almazbek AtambayevSocial Democratic Party1,161,92963.83
Adakhan MadumarovButun Kyrgyzstan274,63915.09
Kamchybek TashievAta-Zhurt266,18914.62
Temirbek AsanbekovMeken Yntymagy17,2320.95
Omurbek SuvanalievIndependent16,1430.89
Kubatbek BaibolovIndependent15,4270.85
Tursunbai Bakir UuluErkin Kyrgyzstan15,1950.83
Anarbek KalmatovAr-Namys13,6090.75
Arstanbek AbdyldayevEl Uchun8,7700.48
Marat ImankulovIndependent5,5780.31
Kubanychbek IsabekovIndependent3,2390.18
Kurmanbek OsmonovIndependent2,4520.13
Akbaraly AitikeevIndependent2,0810.11
Torobaev KolubaevIndependent1,9410.11
Sooronbai DyykanovIndependent1,3390.07
Almazbek KarimovIndependent1,3050.07
Against all13,4190.74
Total1,820,487100.00
Valid votes1,820,48797.95
Invalid/blank votes38,1452.05
Total votes1,858,632100.00
Registered voters/turnout3,032,66661.29
Source: CEC

Reactions

After voting, Atambayev said that: "A parliamentary system is more suited to the nomadic spirit of the people." After 95% of the preliminary results suggested Atambayev had more than 60% of the vote, his campaign spokesman Kadyr Toktogulov said that "Atambayev secured a national victory. There is a very small split in the number of votes he got in the north and the south."[2]

References

  1. ↑ "Kyrgyz MPs set presidential election for Oct 30". Reuters. 30 June 2011. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 Kyrgyz PM wins presidential election, Al Jazeera English, 1 November 2011, retrieved 6 November 2011
  3. ↑ F_363. "Presidential vote in Kyrgyzstan in 6 months: interim leader - People's Daily Online". English.people.com.cn. Retrieved 30 October 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  4. ↑ "Kyrgyz Interim Government Unveils Reform Plan To 'return To Democracy'". Rttnews.com. 19 April 2010. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
  5. ↑ "FACTBOX-Key political risks to watch in Kyrgyzstan - AlertNet". Trust.org. Reuters. 1 October 2010. Archived from the original on 28 July 2011. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
  6. ↑ "Kyrgyzstan's new leaders set October election date". BBC News. 22 April 2010. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
  7. ↑ "Kyrgyzstan's interim leader Otunbayeva to be president to 2011 | Asia-Pasific". World Bulletin. 19 May 2010. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 "Eighty-Three Candidates Declare For Kyrgyz Presidential Election". Rferl.org. 16 August 2011. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Kyrgyzstan votes for new president". english.aljazeera.net. Retrieved 8 November 2016.
  10. ↑ "Anxiety marks Kyrgyzstan poll run-up - Asia". Al Jazeera English. 4 October 2011. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
  11. 1 2 "PM Atambayev wins Kyrgyzstan presidential election". BBC News. 31 October 2011.
  12. 1 2 3 4 "Controversy mars Kyrgyz presidential election". english.aljazeera.net. Retrieved 8 November 2016.
  13. 1 2 Bollier, Roxanne Horesh, Sam. "Kyrgyzstan flirts with democracy". english.aljazeera.net. Retrieved 8 November 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  14. ↑ "Kyrgyz President Says Won't Run For Second Term". Rferl.org. 21 February 2011. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
  15. ↑ Бурулкан Сарыгулова. "Өмүрбек Текебаев шайлоого катышпайт". Azattyk.org. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
  16. ↑ Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director (4 August 2011). "Kyrgyzstan: Online News Agencies Denied Accreditation | Human Rights Watch". Hrw.org. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
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