Voters in Kyrgyzstan, a country in Central Asia, were on their way to elect nationalist politician Sadyr Japarov as president, who emerged from prison amid riots last year and made previous calls to nationalize some of the country’s most valuable assets, increasing concerns among foreign investors in the turbulent and resource-rich country.
Sunday’s election, which also saw voters approve changes to the constitution giving the president more powers, is the first vote since last year’s riots that forced former President Sooronbai Jeenbekov to resign, ending a long period of political uncertainty in the country. aligned with Russia. .
Japarov was elected prime minister in October and also served as interim president after Jeenbekov’s resignation.
These protests, sparked by allegations of vote buying in last October’s parliamentary elections, alarmed Moscow and compounded the Kremlin’s problems in its former Soviet periphery, which include a persistent protest movement in Belarus and a conflict in the South Caucasus. that saw Turkey’s influence grow there.
Japarov led with more than 79% of the votes after the polls closed at the end of Sunday, with more than 90% of the votes counted, Russian news agencies reported to the country’s central electoral committee. There were 17 candidates for the position. There were no reports of violence during the vote.