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NGO says election curtailed democracy

Tolikan Isimlova, Executive Director of the Coalition for Democracy and Civil Society, told IRIN on Thursday that her group would “continue to lobby for democratic and electoral reform in the country.” Isimlova’s statements came after the NGO on Wednesday issued further condemnation of the 29 October presidential election in Kyrgyzstan. According to the report, the election has “led to a curtailing of the democratic environment, endangering the possibility for further development of Kyrgyzstan as a democratic state and its adherence to the main constitutional and international standards regarding human and citizens’ rights.” The report cited restricted access for observers, falsified election results, pressure on voters and limited access to the media as key factors in the incumbent President Askar Akayev’s return to office. Meanwhile president-elect Akayev said in a joint session of parliament on Tuesday that he had instructed the Prosecutor-General to deliver a report on widespread allegations of fraud during the 29 October presidential poll within the next fortnight, Radio Free Europe reported. Akayev said he took “very seriously” the US House of Representatives 1 November resolution criticising Kyrgyzstan’s failure to meet its democratisation commitments, the report said.

This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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