Kyrgyzstan interim government sets elections schedule

Bishkek/Moscow - The interim government in Kyrgystan, seeking to restore political stability in the Central Asian country, aims to hold a referendum on a new constitution in June, followed by national elections in October, a top official said Thursday.

Deputy Prime Minister Omurbek Tekebayev was cited by Akipress as saying the envisaged new constitution would give significantly less power to the presidency and aim for greater balance in decision- making between the government and parliament.

The presidential role would be that of a referee in political decision-making, he said.

The referendum on the constitution was to be June 27. Presidential and parliamentary elections would follow next October 10.

His reported remarks come amid ongoing unrest in the country after mass protest demonstrations in the capital Bishkek in which 85 people were killed and over 1,600 injured.

The unrest then forced authoritarian president Kurmanbek Bakiyev to flee to the south of the country before he then went into exile in Belarus.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/319996,kyrgyzstan-interim-government-sets-elections-schedule.html.