Voters in the Central Asian country of Kyrgyzstan were on their way to electing nationalist politician Sadyr Japarov as president, who was released from prison amid last year’s unrest and has called for it in the past. nationalize some of the country’s most valuable assets, adding to concerns among foreign investors in the turbulent and resource-rich country.
Sunday’s election, which also allowed voters to approve changes to the constitution that would give the president greater powers, is the first vote since last year’s riots that forced former President Sooronbai Jeenbekov to resign, which ended with a long period of political uncertainty in the country aligned with Russia.
Japarov was elected prime minister in October and also served as acting president following the resignation of Mr. Jeenbekov.
These protests, sparked by vote-buying allegations in last October’s parliamentary elections, alarmed Moscow and added to the Kremlin’s problems on its former Soviet periphery, which include a persistent protest movement in Belarus and a conflict in the South Caucasus that has seen the influence of Turkey grow. there.
Japarov led with more than 79% of the vote cast after the polls closed on Sunday afternoon, with more than 90% of the votes counted, the country’s central election committee told Russian news agencies. There were 17 candidates for the post. No violence was reported during the vote.