The FINANCIAL — Electoral officials in Kyrgyzstan say preliminary results show that ruling party candidate Sooronbai Jeenbekov won the presidency by a comfortable margin, avoiding a second-round runoff in a vote his strongest rival contended was “not fair.”
With 97 percent of the ballots counted in the October 15 election, Jeenbekov had more than 54 percent of the vote while Omurbek Babanov had just under 34 percent, the Central Election Commission (CEC) said, according to RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service.
Confirmation of the results and a smooth transition would mark the first peaceful handover of power from one elected president to another in the any Central Asian country since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Presidents were driven from power by street protests in Kyrgyzstan in 2005 and 2010, and for more than two decades only the death of a president in office has ushered in a new leader in any of the other four countries.
A handover to Jeenbekov, 58, could herald a continuation of the policies of outgoing President Almazbek Atambaev, who has close ties with Moscow and brought Kyrgyzstan into a Russian-led economic alliance in 2015.
“My task is to preserve what has been achieved, to strengthen what has been started,” Jeenbekov, said shortly after the preliminary results were announced.
He praised what he said were the predominantly Muslim county of 6 million’s “great achievements and developments in all sectors in the past six years,” referring to Atambaev’s term.
Both Jeenbekov and Babanov served as prime minister under Atambaev but the outgoing president vocally backed Jeenbekov, prompting accusations from critics that he abused the levers of power to ensure victory for his favored candidate.
Analysts and opposition politicians had predicted a closer race, and opinion polls had suggested that neither man would clear the 50 percent threshold, forcing a runoff.
“There is no fair election today,” Babanov said as voting progressed on October 15. “Law enforcement authorities are interfering with the election.”
A spokeswoman for Babanov was quoted by the AFP news agency as saying that his campaign was conducting a “parallel count” of votes, and he was expected to speak on October 16.
A total of 11 candidates, including one woman, were on the ballot to replace Atambaev, who is constitutionally barred from running for a second term.
Underscoring the animus in the election, Jeenbekov was asked whether he would ask Babanov to join his team. He responded that he “never had such intention.”
Amid concerns of potential unrest and political confrontation, Temir Sariev, another candidate who is also a former prime minister, said on October 15 that “there shouldn’t be any tension” in the country and added: “The election must finish tonight.”
Jeenbekov, who stepped down as prime minister in late August to focus on the presidential race, used his political leverage and support from the incumbent to wage a heated battle with the 47-year-old Babanov, a wealthy entrepreneur and former oil trader from the northern province of Talas.
Atambaev had unleashed a series of accusations as the vote approached, claiming that opponents were plotting unrest and accusing larger northern neighbor Kazakhstan and its long-ruling president, Nursultan Nazarbaev, of interfering in the campaign and backing Babanov.
He warned on October 15 that the authorities “have jailed and will continue to jail” those planning unrest “so that they don’t spoil our celebration.”
Government critics say the campaign was marred by a bribe-taking conviction and eight-year prison sentence handed down to opposition Ata-Meken (Fatherland) party leader Omurbek Tekebaev in August after a trial he said was politically motivated.
Meanwhile, the government accused Babanov of trying to buy votes and late last month it detained one of his supporters, saying there were efforts to plot a coup during the election.
Babanov has denied the accusations and in turn alleged the government has used “administrative resources” — the political levers held by those who control power and budget funds — against his candidacy and in favor of Jeenbekov.
Russia, which has an air base in Kyrgyzstan and is vying for clout in Central Asia with economic powerhouse China as well as the West, stayed neutral on the surface during the campaign. The main candidates were all seen as friendly to Russia.
A meeting at which Kyrgyz officials say Nazarbaev endorsed Babanov added tension to the campaign.
Atambaev said in a speech that Kazakhstan was ruled by corrupt “sultans” and later called an unnamed leading contender in the elections a “flunky” of a foreign country.
Kazakhstan’s government called the remarks “unacceptable” and introduced tighter controls this week on the Kyrgyz border, citing security concerns.
With reporting by AFP, Reuters, and RFE/RL correspondent Alan Crosby
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