A US political watchdog fears some 1,900 Kyrgyz observers will be prevented from monitoring elections and said some had been threatened with arrest ahead of Sunday's presidential vote.
According to the US-based National Democratic Institute (NDI), some 1,900 domestic monitors, trained to observe the presidential ballot, have been denied access to polling stations by the Central Election Commission (CEC).
"It appears they have been denied access on a technicality. It is a major concern," said Ken Melley, NDI delegation leader in Bishkek, who said in at least one-region observers had been threatened with arrest.
The observers are from the certified Public Organization for Democracy and Civil Society, which is referred to as the Coalition.
"The CEC is saying members of the Coalition have not been certified and can't participate, we are saying they are certified and should be able to participate," he said.
"And it violates international standards for elections to be run fairly if domestic monitors are not provided access to the polling stations," he added.
Presidential elections in this tiny Central Asian state are widely expected to return incumbent Askar Akayev after his main opponent was muscled out of the race last month.
The NDI sent a pre-election delegation to Kyrgyzstan in September, which charged that media harassment and suspect moves to bar election rivals were undermining progress to democracy.
Once viewed as the most democratic Central Asian state, Kyrgyzstan's reputation has been tarred by flawed parliamentary elections and clampdowns on the independent press – BISHKEK (AFP)
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