Well MHL did really well today to close steady... not a mean feat today!
Tomorrow should be interesting!
From Toronto's National Post... out a short time ago:
The tiny ex-Soviet state, home to both U.S. and Russian military bases, has been volatile since Bakiyev came to power in 2005 when a string of violent protests triggered by a disputed election toppled his long-serving predecessor, Askar Akayev.
If confirmed by final results, Bakiyev's Ak Zhol party would dominate the 90-seat chamber in effective one-party rule -- a break from Kyrgyzstan's past as the most liberal state among more authoritarian Central Asian countries.
The election monitoring arm of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which sent more than 250 observers for the election, said the vote represented a "missed opportunity" to show commitment to international standards.
"The December 16 parliamentary elections in Kyrgyzstan failed to meet a number of OSCE commitments, despite respect for some that underscore existing pluralism," it said in a statement.
"Overall the election represented a missed opportunity and fell short of public expectations for further consolidation of the election process."
Bakiyev has been accused at home of backtracking on his pre-election promises to bring more democracy and stability. He says stronger rule will help rebuild the economy, still in tatters after the Soviet collapse and burdened by huge debt.
Ak Zhol won 48 percent of Sunday's vote, the Central Election Commission said on Monday, citing results after 80 percent had been counted. Final results are due later this week.
"It'll most likely be a one-party system," said Toktogul Kakchekeyev, an independent political analyst.
The opposition Ata Meken party was the only other party to pass the threshold of 5 percent, with 9.3 percent. But it failed to meet a separate requirement of taking 0.5 percent of the vote in each of Kyrgyzstan's 7 regions and two main cities.
RIGGED?
The opposition condemned the election as flawed, saying it had registered cases of forced voting and ballot stuffing.
"We don't accept this election's result," said Kubatbek Baibolov of the Ata Meken party. "The authorities ... are just cynically appointing their own people into parliament. It will lead to trouble. People feel deceived."
The previous parliamentary election in 2005, also disputed by the opposition, sparked violent protests that toppled Akayev and brought Bakiyev to power.
Ak Zhol says it sees Russia -- where President Vladimir Putin's party controls more than two-thirds of seats in parliament -- as a guiding model. Neighboring Kazakhstan also has a one-party parliament.
But, despite accusations of irregularities, many people said they voted for Ak Zhol, seeing it as a guarantor for stability following years of political turbulence and street protests.
Tomorrow should be interesting!
From Toronto's National Post... out a short time ago:
The tiny ex-Soviet state, home to both U.S. and Russian military bases, has been volatile since Bakiyev came to power in 2005 when a string of violent protests triggered by a disputed election toppled his long-serving predecessor, Askar Akayev.
If confirmed by final results, Bakiyev's Ak Zhol party would dominate the 90-seat chamber in effective one-party rule -- a break from Kyrgyzstan's past as the most liberal state among more authoritarian Central Asian countries.
The election monitoring arm of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which sent more than 250 observers for the election, said the vote represented a "missed opportunity" to show commitment to international standards.
"The December 16 parliamentary elections in Kyrgyzstan failed to meet a number of OSCE commitments, despite respect for some that underscore existing pluralism," it said in a statement.
"Overall the election represented a missed opportunity and fell short of public expectations for further consolidation of the election process."
Bakiyev has been accused at home of backtracking on his pre-election promises to bring more democracy and stability. He says stronger rule will help rebuild the economy, still in tatters after the Soviet collapse and burdened by huge debt.
Ak Zhol won 48 percent of Sunday's vote, the Central Election Commission said on Monday, citing results after 80 percent had been counted. Final results are due later this week.
"It'll most likely be a one-party system," said Toktogul Kakchekeyev, an independent political analyst.
The opposition Ata Meken party was the only other party to pass the threshold of 5 percent, with 9.3 percent. But it failed to meet a separate requirement of taking 0.5 percent of the vote in each of Kyrgyzstan's 7 regions and two main cities.
RIGGED?
The opposition condemned the election as flawed, saying it had registered cases of forced voting and ballot stuffing.
"We don't accept this election's result," said Kubatbek Baibolov of the Ata Meken party. "The authorities ... are just cynically appointing their own people into parliament. It will lead to trouble. People feel deceived."
The previous parliamentary election in 2005, also disputed by the opposition, sparked violent protests that toppled Akayev and brought Bakiyev to power.
Ak Zhol says it sees Russia -- where President Vladimir Putin's party controls more than two-thirds of seats in parliament -- as a guiding model. Neighboring Kazakhstan also has a one-party parliament.
But, despite accusations of irregularities, many people said they voted for Ak Zhol, seeing it as a guarantor for stability following years of political turbulence and street protests.