MOSCOW, October 31 (Itar-Tass) —— The presidential election in Kyrgyzstan was held in accordance with the country’s new Constitution and there were no violations of norms of international law with which the entire Kyrgyzstani people can be congratulated, Konstantin Kosachev, the head of the State Duma International Affairs Committee, said on Monday, commenting on the presidential election held in Kyrgyzstan on October 30. “We closely follow the political processes in Kyrgyzstan and are worried together with the Kyrgyzstani people when these processes take the turn of reliance on power rather than follow a political scenario,” said the MP.
Kosachev said Kyrgyzstan is a very important partner of Russia in the Central Asian region. He said all political camps in Kyrgyzstan attach much importance to relations with Russia. “This was also confirmed by the course of the election campaign. All candidates this time presented the Russian theme in a constructive spirit,” Kosachev said.
In the opinion of the head of the Duma committee, Kyrgyzstani politicians are aware that Russian-Kyrgyzstani relations are a matter of strategy rather than tactics. Kosachev mentioned particularly the fact that Russian-Kyrgyzstani relations made much progress at a time of Almazbek Atambayev, the favorite of the presidential race, being prime minister. “The fact that Kyrgyzstan now actively, and, what is important, officially speaks of acceding to the Customs Union, the Common Economic Space, and, in future, the Eurasian Union, reflects the strategy, one of whose authors Atambayev was,” holds the MP.
Kosachev has pointed out that, under the new Constitution, Kyrgyzstan is a parliamentary republic. “Nevertheless, presidential powers are quite broad, and the president’s public stand will be of much importance for the development of relations with Russia. In this sense the Kyrgyzstani people have made a wise choice. This choice will help promote the interests of Kyrgyzstan and the interests of the development of Russian-Kyrgyzstani relations,” Kosachev holds.
The presidential election in Kyrgyzstan must become a most important stage in legitimizing the authorities in that country following the April 2010 state coup. According to the preliminary results of the Central Electoral Commission, Kyrgyzstan’s Prime Minister Almazbek Atambayev is winning the presidential election. Kyrgyzstan’s president is elected for only one six-year term.