The FINANCIAL — BISHKEK. A total of 57 political parties have registered to participate in the forthcoming Kyrgyz parliamentary elections due in October, a Kyrgyz Central Elections Committee representative said, as Ria Novosti reported.
Under Kyrgyz law all political parties intending to participate in elections are to register within five days after the date of elections was announced, which is before August 16.
Kyrgyz President Roza Otunbayeva made the election announcement on April 11. Before the announcement, there were some 100 parties registered.
According to preliminary estimates, Kyrgyz elections will cost some $3 million.
Neighboring Uzbekistan continues to hold its border with Kyrgyzstan closed.
"We are holding talks on the opening of the border, however the Uzbek side is still refraining from opening its borders," Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Ruslan Kazakbayev said adding that Uzbekistan is concerned that many Kyrgyz are still armed.
Uzbekistan unilaterally closed its border with Kyrgyzstan in April following the violent clashes throughout Kyrgyzstan.
Kyrgyzstan saw violent interethnic clashes in mid-June that killed up to 300 people according to official estimates, with the unofficial death toll reaching 2,000. About 100,000 people fled to neighboring Uzbekistan to avoid the worst interethnic violence in two decades. Hundreds of houses have been destroyed in the riot-hit Osh and Jalalabad regions.
Kyrgyz authorities previously demanded the extradition of ousted President Kurmanbek Bakiyev from Belarus. He has been accused of ordering the shooting of civilians, abuse of power and corruption.
Bakiyev and his relatives have also been accused of instigating the recent clashes between ethnic Kyrgyz and minority Uzbeks in the south of Kyrgyzstan, Bakiyev's former stronghold.
