watch Kyrgyz vote in historic parliamentary election

Kyrgyz vote in historic parliamentary election


A Kyrgyz policeman provides security at a polling station in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Saturday, Oct. 9, 2010. Of the 29 parties in the running in Sunday's elections, at least half a dozen are expected to make it into a newly strengthened parliament, as an intensely fought and often ugly campaign draws to an end. (AP Photo/Nina Gorshkova)
By Peter Leonard
Associated Press Writer / October 10, 2010
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OSH, Kyrgyzstan—Polls opened in Kyrgyzstan for parliamentary elections Sunday to choose a new and empowered parliament that the government hopes will usher in a new era of democracy.


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The vote comes after an exhausting year of political turbulence and ethnic violence in the south.

Security has been tightened for the vote in the Central Asian nation in a bid to prevent any possible outbreaks of unrest.

Kyrgyzstan, which hosts a strategically vital U.S. air base near Afghanistan, is set to embrace a parliamentary system of governance. This marks a sharp departure from the strongman model exercised under President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, who was ousted in April amid violent public demonstrations.

Heading to cast his ballot a polling station at the agriculture institute in the southern city of Osh, 49-year old history teacher Ermek Suleimanov said the vote was a momentous turning point for the country.

"If in the past voting was just a formality, now we will find out who the people really want to lead them," Suleimanov said.

President Roza Otunbayeva said Saturday that the elections will be held in a spirit of fairness and transparency.

All eyes are on the southern cities of Osh and Jalal-Abad, where violent clashes between ethnic Kyrgyz and minority Uzbeks in June left more than 400 people dead, most of them Uzbeks, and displaced around 400,000 people.

Truckloads of police drove into Osh throughout the night, boosting the presence of security forces in the city.

In the ethnic Uzbek suburb of Sharq, a steady flow of voters headed to a local polling station Sunday morning on the site of a school burned down during the riots.
Coppied by http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2010/10/10/kyrgyzstan_goes_to_the_polls_in_historic_election/

Watches U.N. delegation underscores support for Sudan election

U.N. delegation underscores support for Sudan election

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice speaks with UNAMID Joint Special Rep. Ibrahim Gambari in North Darfur Thursday.

(CNN) -- Members of the U.N. Security Council Thursday wrapped up their visit to southern Sudan, underscoring support for the January referendum vote that could lead to the region's independence.
According to a Security Council diplomat, the 15 members are making the trip at a critical juncture.
U.S. President Barack Obama recently implored Sudanese officials to fully implement a 2005 peace agreement and move forward with the referendum. He called the stakes "enormous."
A U.N. meeting last month called on the international community to respect the outcome of the vote in southern Sudan and Abyei if they meet stipulated criteria. Abyei is a disputed oil-rich city in the region.
"We are here to reinforce that message and the determination of the council to support you and all parties to the CPA [comprehensive peace agreement] in that process," U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice said Thursday, according to the U.N. mission in Sudan.
The delegation traveled to Juba in Southern Sudan to see an academy that will train police to safeguard the election, which could result in Sudan being split into two nations.
The peace agreement ended two decades of violence between the north and the south. The conflict led to the deaths of 2 million people, many from starvation.
The agreement would allow the autonomous southern region -- which holds a majority of the nation's oil -- to secede from the north. Fears that the process would cause more instability in the war-torn nation have sparked concerns among the international community.
The aid organization Oxfam said the situation in Darfur remains desperate. The international peacekeeping force is approaching full strength, it said, but troops are still unable to reach civilians needing protection.
"As the referendum draws near, the world will be watching Sudan," the agency said in a statement from Northern Sudan. "The UNSC needs to take this moment and focus not only on the issues affecting the southern referendum, but to support effective civilian protection in Darfur, promote the rights of the displaced, and to support an inclusive peace process in Darfur."
coppied by 2010 Cable News Network.