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78% of Kyrgyzstan’s voters support constitutional amendments

Thus, according to the Central Election Commission, as many as 926,000 voters supported the amendments, while slightly more than 178,000 voted against

© EPA/IGOR KOVALENKO

BISHKEK, December 11. /TASS/. About 78% of those who took part in Kyrgyzstan’s constitutional referendum on Sunday voted in favor of amending the national constitution, a spokesman for the Central Election Commission told TASS after counting 95% of ballot papers.

Thus, according to the Central Election Commission, as many as 926,000 voters supported the amendments, while slightly more than 178,000 voted against. A total of 58,000 ballots were recognized as invalid.

"These are preliminary results. The final results will be announced after manual recounting of ballots," the spokesman said.

Kyrgyzstan held a referendum on constitutional amendments on Sunday. If over 50% of those taking part in the voting support the constitutional amendments, then 30 articles of the country’s constitution will be changed. In this case, the president’s powers will be reduced while the powers of prime minister and parliament will be expanded, moreover, a judicial reform and a reform of the law enforcement system will be carried out.

The elections of local councils (kenesh) were also held in 405 localities across the country.

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