Supporters of the Butun Kyrgyzstan Party are demanding a recount and protesting in the streets of Bishkek, Osh, Batken, and other regional cities after their party was shut out of the new Kyrgyz parliament.
The party failed to win the 5 percent of the national vote required to secure seats in the Jogorku Kenesh. It cleared the original 142,000-vote threshold, based on the 2.8 million expected voters, by winning 145,455 votes. But the party failed to win the 150,000 votes needed when the 5 percent figure increased after an additional 200,000 voters showed up at the polls.
Akylbek Sariyev, chairman of the Central Election Committee, said that while approximately 2.8 million people were on the registered list of voters, the final tally increased to more than 3 million after unregistered voters were allowed to cast ballots.
It is unclear whether the Butun Kyrgyzstan Party plans to challenge the results in court.
