BISHKEK – Parliamentary elections in Kyrgyzstan started today, under the watchful eyes of 736 international observers, to elect 90 deputies for a five-year term.

Head of the Central Election Commission (CEC) of the country, Nurzhan Shaildabekova, told a briefing this morning that, 2,435 polling stations were opened in the country, at 8.00 a.m. local time (0200 GMT), which will work until 8.00 p.m. (1400 GMT). Another 59 polling stations would be opened abroad in 29 countries.

The deputies will be elected through a mixed electoral system, with 54 of them to be elected according to a proportional system from political parties, and 36 others are to be elected from single-mandate constituencies, on a majority basis.

Twenty-one political parties were registered to participate in the elections, more than 280 candidates were registered in single-mandate constituencies.

According to data from the CEC head, a total of 3,703,420 people will vote for the political parties, and 3,619,292 are going to vote in the single-mandate constituencies.

The Interior Ministry said earlier that, more than 11,000 police officers would be deployed, to ensure public order and security at polling stations.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK