#154: Elections Update

I see the following main election-related problems that can affect the results:

• Apathy: Many Kyrgyz, if not majority, seem to have lost hope in influencing politics through elections and lost confidence in themselves. One can observe people's sense of powerlessness and voluntary detachment from politics.
• Migrants: How will the votes of immigrant workers be counted? Because we now have a regional threshold, which oblast and city will get their votes?
• Ballot Stuffing: Approximately 500 000 out of 2.7 million registered voters are abroad. The possibility of their votes being used in their absence to inflate the popularity of the pro-governmental parties is very high.
• Boot Licking: Each governor, each akim (rayon heads), each aiyl ökmötü (village heads) will be competing against each other to show maximum loyalty to the central government in Bishkek by helping Ak Jol get the most votes.
• Intimidations: Party activists, especially those of the opposition ones, are being attacked by thugs not only in rural areas, but also in Bishkek.
• Unfair Rules: Political parties are being denied access to state TV, while the President, in all his speeches and public appearances, widely covered by the media, is openly campaigning for Ak Jol.

Yesterday and today I, like hundreds of thousands of users of Bitel cell phones, received text messages saying "Number 11! Don't forget! Vote! Ak Jol is our true path!" (11 nomer! Ty ne zabud'! Progolosuy! Ak Jol nash vernyy put'!) and "Go, Ak Jol, Go forward! The future is waiting for us!!" (Vpered 'Ak Jol' vpered! Nas buduschee jed!!). Although the Central Elections Commission says is it is ok, the law on advertisement says that sending ads - and I include campaign ads in this category - through internet (email), short message service (SMS), and fax is illegal and should be considered as spam.