83 Candidates to Run for Kyrgyzstan Presidential Election

Posted August 16th, 2011 at 6:35 am (UTC-5)
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Kyrgyzstan's Central Election Commission says 83 people have registered to run in the country's presidential election at the end of October.

The commission said Tuesday that 16 candidates received nominations from political parties and 67 are running as independents.

The candidates are now required to collect at least 30,000 signatures, submit an electoral deposit of more than $2,000, and pass a Kyrgyz language test by September 25 in order to be considered as a presidential contender.

The most prominent candidates to run are Prime Minister Almazbek Atambayev, who heads up the Social Democratic Party, and Kamchybek Tashiyev, who leads the nationalist Ata-Zhurt party.

Presidential elections are due to be held on October 30.

It will be the first presidential election since the deadly uprising in April 2010 that led to the ousting of the former President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, who fled the country during violent protests sparked by discontent over government corruption.

Since the uprising, Kyrgyzstan has struggled with political instability and deadly ethnic violence between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks.

The country's current leader, President Roza Otunbayeva, led the interim government that took power after President Bakiyev stepped down. She is not eligible to run for election.