Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct. 9 / Trend E. Ostapenko /
The joint efforts of the Kyrgyz Central Election Commission and the political parties to resolve the controversy in the electoral legislation of the country allow to hope that these gaps will not affect the fair course of the parliamentary elections, Abdumomun Mamaraimov, the CEC member, said.
The parliamentary elections in Kyrgyzstan are scheduled for Sunday. These elections will be another step in legitimizing the powerful institutions, emerging after the overthrow of President Bakiyev in April.
"Many contradictions and gaps were revealed in the current legislation while preparing for the parliamentary elections. When any situation arises, the CEC can not always find the reply in the law," Mamarimov told Trend over phone from Bishkek.
He said that the CEC together with the political parties attempted to maximally eliminate existing gaps in the legislation.
"In case of differences in the legislation, we come together with the participants of the electoral process, discuss all the options and choose the rules of the game in advance, he said. After the political parties give their consent, we publish the official information that is distributed to all interested parties.
An example of the contradictions in the legislation is that, according to the Kyrgyz constitution, the parliament consists of 120 MPs and no party can get more than 65 mandates, Mamaraimov said. But according to the Election Code, mandates are given without taking into account these requirements of the Constitution.
"We had to develop instructions and provisions. According to them, mandates will be given if a party gets more than 65 mandates," he said.
The parliamentary elections in Kyrgyzstan will be held on the party system. About 29 parties were registered at the CEC. According to the new Constitution, after electing Jogorku Kenesh (unicameral parliament), Kyrgyzstan will become a parliamentary republic. The president will have only representational functions. Prime-Minister, appointed by a parliamentary majority, will have actual authority over the republic.
There are about 2.86 million people in the lists of voters. There is no threshold for voter turnout in the Kyrgyz legislation.
The numerous observers from ODIHR / OSCE, SCO, CSTO and CIS will observe the electoral process.
At present, security is the main issue of concern for everybody, Mamaraimov said.
All law enforcement agencies have been in high alert since October 5. The financial police, customs and security agencies, associations of hunters and even taxi drivers will be involved to ensure public safety, Rosa Otunbayeva, the president of the republic, said.
Mamaraimov said that one can hope for a favorable course of the elections and prudence of participants in the process that will ensure the absence of any excesses.
"It is in their interest. Rosa Otunbayeva said that the electoral process will be suspended in case of danger and escalating tensions. A state of emergency will be introduced, he said. None of the parties is interested in it as much money, efforts and resources were spent to organize elections.
Current parliamentary elections in Kyrgyzstan will be marked by some innovations. They will help to accelerate the counting of votes, reduce the possible fraud and guarantee the security of the committee members, Mamaraimov said.
First, almost all 2,289 constituencies all over the country will have fax machines. The results of the commissions will be immediately sent to the CEC in the capital. A team of 90 people has been organized in the CEC to receive these faxes. Over 30 computers were allocated. These 90 people will work in shifts.
"Innovation with copies of the protocols sent by fax, is an additional security measure, since in this case it would not make sense to put pressure on the committee members. Even if the committee members are somehow forced to change something on the spot, then copies of the original protocols will be available at the CEC, " Mamaraimov said.
Moreover, the commissions of all levels will be provided with mobile phones. The constant communication will be set with the CEC, Mamaraimov said. The information about the voting process will be sent to the CEC via SMS. The CEC established a special program that will accumulate all this information and the preliminary results.
The safe-packages of protocols will also be used in two versions. They will be sealed and directly sent to the CEC, Mamaraimov said. Thus, the Central Committee will have the original versions of the protocols. If later they are falsified, the CEC will know about it.
"We will do our best to ensure transparency and fairness of elections and prevent fraud," Mamaraimov said.