Kyrgyz polls "competitive" but drawbacks remain
Kyrgyzstan's parliamentary elections on Sunday were competitive and provided voters with a wide range of choice, Western observers said on Monday, while urging the ex-Soviet nation to improve procedures of holding elections and their transparency.
"The elections were characterized by a lively campaign, but the amount of impartial information available to voters in the news was limited," monitors from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, and the European Parliament said in a report.
The hurried introduction of biometric registration, concerns over ballot secrecy, and significant procedural problems during the vote count "tarnished what was a generally smooth election day", the observers said.
