MOSCOW – A populist politician and convicted kidnapper on Sunday won a landslide victory in a quick presidential election in Kyrgyzstan caused by a popular uprising against the previous government.
According to the Central Electoral Commission of the mountainous country, the only democracy in Central Asia, Sadyr Japarov, the winning candidate, received nearly 80 percent of the vote. More than 80 percent of voters also supported Mr. Japarov supports redistributing political power from parliament and into the hands of the president.
In September, Mr. Japarov, 52, is still in jail and has served a long term for orchestrating the kidnapping of a provincial governor, a charge he politically motivated. A violent upheaval that erupted in October due to a contested parliamentary election, Mr. Japarov jumped from a prison to the prime minister’s chair.
A few days later, he assumed the interim presidency before resigning to serve in the office. The country’s most important investigative body has the conviction of mr. Japarov quickly canceled.
Mr Japarov, vilified by his critics as a corrupt nationalist with links to organized crime, sought to consolidate society behind his campaign. There were widespread reports of irregularities in the vote by late Sunday, when election officials said turnout was about 39 percent.
On Sunday night at a news conference in the capital, Bishkek, he said that Kyrgyzstan now needs the most political stability.
‘I call on all opponents to unite; the minority must submit to the majority, “Mr Japarov said during the news conference. ‘I come to power during difficult times; there is a crisis everywhere. ”
Arkady Dubnov, an expert on Central Asia in Moscow, told Mr. Japarov describes as a populist ‘Robin Hood’ figure who came to power on the promise to relieve people quickly. Mr Dubnov said on Sunday on Ekho Moskvy, a Russian radio station, that more unrest in Kyrgyzstan was inevitable.
“The way the entire power system in Kyrgyzstan has been swept and uprooted in just 48 hours shows how unstable government institutions in this country,” he said.
A former Soviet republic of 6.3 million people swallowed up in the country, Kyrgyzstan has suffered ongoing political strife. Three of his presidents, including Mr. Japarov’s immediate predecessor, Sooronbay Jeenbekov, has been embroiled in violent uprisings since the country’s independence from Moscow in 1991.
Deep poverty, family rivalry and divisions between the north and the south have made it difficult for successive governments to impose full control over the country. Many governments were corrupt and took advantage of lucrative smuggling routes across the country from China.
During the most recent political unrest, protesters captured the main government building that houses parliament and the presidential offices. Upset by credible allegations about the widespread buying of votes during last autumn’s parliamentary elections, a violent crowd storms the building, leaving heaps of rubbish behind.
Russian President Vladimir V. Putin said after the protests that Kyrgyzstan was the biggest problem as its elite tried to fit their domestic policies into the form of some Western countries.
“They always try to run in front of the train,” he said. Putin said at a news conference in December. “At the same time, they do not have the level of political awareness and institutional maturity of the kind that France, for example, has.”
Japarov follows the leadership of Mr. Putin to expand his powers. But it can be dangerous. Kurmanbek Bakiyev, another predecessor of Mr. Japarov, tried to consolidate all power levers in his hands during his term of 2005-2010. Eventually, he was fired in a bloody riot.
A country where Russian is a state language, Kyrgyzstan is closely linked to Moscow. Mr Japarov promised during his campaign to maintain close ties. Russia operates an air base near Bishkek and is also the leading destination for hundreds of thousands of migrant workers from Kyrgyzstan.
“We lived with Russia for 70 years during the Soviet era,” he said. Japarov said Sunday after casting his vote. “After the collapse of the union, we have been allies for 30 years,” he said, calling Russia ‘the strategic partner’.
Neighboring China is another important partner for Kyrgyzstan. The economic giant in the east is the main investor in Kyrgyzstan’s impoverished economy and the main borrower of the government.