Kyrgyz head for coalition rule
With 90 per cent of ballots counted, the nationalist Ata Zhurt party leads, but has just 8.7 per cent of the total vote. --aljazeera.com--
Last Modified: 11 Oct 2010 11:56 GMT


Five parties have passed the threshold to win seats in Kyrgyzstan's new parliament after an election aimed at shifting the strategic Central Asian nation away from authoritarian rule.

Holding a narrow lead with 93 per cent of the votes counted is Ata Zhurt, whose members include former colleagues of Kurmanbek Bakiyev, the ousted president. The Central Election Commission on Monday emphasized that the results are not final.

But with just 8.69 per cent of the share of the vote, the nationalist party would be unable to govern on their own as Kyrgyzstan attempts to form Central Asia's first parliamentary democracy.

The Social Democratic Party, which supports the interim government, was close behind Ata Zhurt on 8.09 per cent, while the pro-Moscow Ar-Namys party of ex-prime minister Felix Kulov was third on 7.48 per cent.

Al Jazeera's James Bays, reporting from the capital Bishkek, said the election results were "going to be very close" and as a result a "coalition will be formed".

"The preliminary results show that five parties all have a projection of between 20 and 28 seats in the new parliament." (cont...)