Doha                                                                                                                                                                                                   15 Oct 2917                                                                                                                                                                              (Bloomberg, ATQ)

Former Prime Minister Sooronbay Jeenbekov won Kyrgyzstan’s presidential election, according to preliminary official data, as his defeated rival called for unity in the central Asian republic that’s been roiled by political violence in the past.

Jeenbekov, who’s backed by outgoing President Almazbek Atambayev’s Social Democratic party, received 54.3 percent of the about 1.7 million votes cast, making a run-off unnecessary, the central election commission reported Monday. Businessman Omurbek Babanov, who heads the opposition Respublika party, was second with 33.4 percent. Turnout was 56 percent of 3 million eligible voters.

Jeenbekov’s election will mark the first democratic transfer of power in Kyrgyzstan, a country of 6.1 million people. Autocrats have retained power in nearby Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan.

“Kyrgyzstan has demonstrated a generally positive example for holding competitive elections and a peaceful transfer of power,” Azay Guliyev, leader of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s election-monitoring mission, said in a statement Monday. While candidates generally campaigned freely, “cases of the misuse of public resources, pressure on voters and vote buying remain a concern,” according to the OSCE’s statement.

The election comes after Kyrgyzstan voted in a referendum last year to change its constitution and shift powers from the president to the prime minister and government, which is dominated by Atambayev’s party. He’s denied opposition accusations that he plans to continue ruling the country as prime minister when his term ends.

In Qatar, around 168 Kyrgyz expatriates were registered voters among 400 living in Qatar who used their right to vote in Kargyz general presidential elections.

Polling station was established in the premises of embassy with five polling officials to conduct in a fair and free atmosphere and using bio-metrics system to ensure transparency of the elections with live on-line  monitoring  voting process.

Nuran Niyazaliev, ambassador of Kyrgystan Republic to State of Qatar said on the occasion that it is a historic day for Kyrgyz expatriate community living in Qatar to use their right of vote in their country's Presidential Elections.

He told that there are 400 Kyrgyz nationals working in Qatar mainly in service industry and Qatar Airways. However, around 168 among them got registered for voting since many of remaining either will be casting today their vote back home during their vacations or in other country during their visit.

President of the country is elected once for a tenure of six years   Kyrgyz embassy in Qatar was established during the tenure of out-going President Almazbek Atambayev and he has paid two times visit to State of Qatar during this period.

13 Candidates took part in the elections. The elected president will take over his responsibility from 1st December 2017 for the period of six years.

A lady voter living in Qatar since last 16 years was quiet excited at the polling station. She told web news www.asiantelegraphqatar.com that she feels so honored using her right to vote in the elections of country's president. She told that it was her first time in life casting vote in national elections. She lauded on the opportunity provided to overseas Kyrgyz nationals in Qatar to cast their vote.

As per earlier report from Press Service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 36 polling stations outside of the country were planned to open. Among the countries included Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Belarus, Azerbaijan, USA, Canada, Great Britain, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Turkey, China, Japan, Korea, India, Malaysia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Switzerland and first time in Qatar.

56 Int'l organizations and 58 countries were registered as observers for the 2017 elections in Kyrgystan.

It is to note that for Qatari nationals, Kyrgystan facilitates entry visa on arrival.