Monitors cite flaws in Central Asian polls

CENTRAL ASIA: Sunday's general elections in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan were riddled with irregularities, Western monitors and opposition leaders alleged yesterday.

The central Asian neighbours, both dominated by high mountains and Soviet-era presidents, were the focus of US and Russian attention over the weekend amid whispers that they could follow the path of Ukraine and Georgia to peaceful revolution.

Mass protests failed to materialise, however, despite widespread complaints over the barring of opposition candidates in both countries, and the state-dominated media's unremitting and usually gushing coverage of the respective pro-government parties. "The elections . . . fell short of OSCE commitments and other international standards for democratic elections," said Finnish politician Kilmo Kiljunen, a Finnish politician with the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe's monitoring team in Kyrgyzstan.

He said the poll was "undermined by vote buying, deregistration of candidates, interference with media and worryingly low confidence in judicial and electoral institutions on the part of voters and candidates".

The OSCE said the lack of press freedom was "a very, very serious problem, and that is one of the bases why we are not happy with the election environment in this country". The poll was seen as a test of Kyrgyzstan's democratic credentials ahead of a presidential vote in October, when the country's beleaguered opposition expects the incumbent, Askar Akayev, to find a pretext to run for a third term, which is prohibited in the constitution. He is also believed to be grooming his son and daughter as successors.

On Sunday Mr Akayev's son, Aidar, won a seat in parliament, while his daughter, Bermet, will have to fight a March 13th run-off. Mr Akayev, who once had a reputation as a democrat in a region of latter-day khans, warned before Sunday's vote that public protests could spark civil war in a state that hosts both US and Russian military bases and borders Afghanistan.

In next-door Tajikistan, President Imomali Rakhmonov admitted that the elections were flawed but welcomed results that gave his party about 80 per cent of the vote.