US says Kyrgyzstan government did not honor fair election commitments

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
The United States accused Kyrgyzstan's government on Thursday of failing to live up to its commitments to honesty and fairness in parliamentary elections that gave President Kurmanbek Bakiyev's Ak Jol party an overwhelming victory. Results of Sunday's elections were released officially Thursday in Bishkek, the Kyrgyz capital. The main opposition party, Ata Meken, said it would seek redress in the courts for what it called rigged elections. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack expressed serious US concern about the vote, in which Bakiyev's party was given all but 19 of the 90 seats; the others went to minor parties loyal to the president. McCormack said the United States saw promising elements including accreditation of outside election observers. Nevertheless, he said, "our assessment concurs with many of the preliminary findings and conclusions of independent observers, such as the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe, that stated the election failed to meet many of the Kyrgyz Republic's international commitments."