And the winner is... (Kyrgyz Presidential Elections)

Unsurprisingly, it looks like Kurmanbek Bakiev has won a pretty overwhelming majority of the votes - preliminary results from 2175 districts out of a total of 2181 indicate that he has received 88.65% of votes so far, with a turn out rate of just under 75%. The website of the civil campaign "Я - За Честные Выборы" ("I'm for Honest Elections") has details by region and district for those interested in number crunching, as does the official "Shailoo" (the Central Commission for the Holding of Elections and Referenda in the Kyrgyz Republic, to give it its full name) web site, which (in theory - i.e. they're not working just yet) has some flashy graphics available for anyone who might need them (PowerPoint here we come...).

Nathan over at Registan.net has a good piece on the elections, complete with a few nice photos, whilst RFE/RL ran an article on Sunday with some background as the scale of Bakiev's victory was just becoming apparent - RFE/RL has has a lot of material in its special section on the presidential elections. Registan also had some good links on Saturday to various reports, including news from Greg Cannon (via the Chicago Tribune) in the Kyrgyzia Blog , a MosNews report that Hizb-ut-Tahrir has called for the elections to be boycotted, and an RFE/RL piece on Kyrgyzstan rejecting a monitoring request from the CIS. Alan Cordova's Central Asian Democracy Project has an entry on the Kyrgyz version of Rock the Vote that was held prior to the elections (as well as recent entries on election monitoring and a good news roundup of how the elections are seen abroad).

Yandex has all the latest stories on the elections from the Russian/Russian-language media.

Interfax, meanwhile, reports that Akaev was not included on voter lists at the Kyrgyz embassy in Moscow according to his laywer, who has stated that this was an attempt to humiliate the ex-president. In appears that inspite of embassy officials saying that he could still vote by showing his passport, Akaev did not participate.

Anyhow, taking a step back from election results fever, a quickish run down of the weekend's news from Central Asia and the FSU:

Central Asia Regional News

• RIA Novosti reports that a continued US presence in Central Asia could depend on Russian and Chinese positions.
• Eurasia Daily Monistor puts it more starkly, asserting that the US military presence in Central Asia is at risk.
• Pakistan's Daily Times, however, reports on Condeleeza Rice's response to calls for the US to withdraw: “It is our understanding that the people of Afghanistan want and need the help of US armed forces” she said, indicating the rejection of the SCO's calls.
• Zaman has a piece on Geopolitics in Central Asia today suggesting that the US's entry into the region was "largely opportunistic".
• RFE/RL meanwhile, asks "Is it time to withdraw US troops?"
• Aljazeerah has an interesting opinion piece on US involvement in Central Asia and other regions of the world, suggesting that countries have every reason to be wary of US intentions.
• Australia's ABC has a transcript of a correspondent's report on the meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in Kazakhstan, introduced with an accurate but unflattering description of the SCO: "The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation is made up of a failed superpower, an emerging superpower and four former soviet [sic] states whose names few people know how to pronounce."

Kyrgyzstan

• RFE/RL has a piece on the role of young people in politics in the republic.
• The BBC sees the elections as a "key test for transition".
• On Thursday RIA Novosti reported that Kyrgyz authorities apparently had proof of Akaev's involvement with unrest in Bishkek on June 17.
• Eurasianet highlights the continuing problems of and over Uzbek refugees in the south of the republic, whilst RIA Novosti reports that the Kyrgyz Procurator General has said that if the criminal role of any of the refugees is proven then they will be deported.
• Although the election seems to have passed off largely peacefully (so far), there was disorder in Karasu on Friday involving an estimated 300 people who were brawling over a commercial dispute, reports Reuters Alert Net.
• The International Election Observation Mission (ODHIR/OSCE) will hold a press conference today at 15.00 local time at the Hyatt Regency Hotel to report their preliminary findings and conclusions, reports noticias.com.
• Kommersant reports on a potential problem with prosecuting ex-president Akaev: all of the charges fall under the newly-passed Act of Indeminity, which allows for an amnesty of over 1,000 prisoners, mainly men over 60 and women over 65, as well as reductions in the sentences of around 9,000 prisoners.

Uzbekistan

• India's The Hindu reports that Uzbekistan is increasing pressure on the US to close its base in the country.

Russia/FSU

• MosNews reports on the failure of the Russian authorities to tackle violent racism in the country that has lead to the deaths of several foreigners, including students, over the last year or so. Unfortunately, Voronezh is mentioned as one of the worst places for foreign students of any nationality or colour, along with St Petersburg and Rostov-on-the-Don. Full version in Russian here.
• More in keeping with the usual MosNews tone is a report on a youth who cross-dressed and went to sit university entrance exams on behalf of his sister. He was discovered after suspicions that (s)he had crib sheets hidden in her bra were raised by the size of her bust (pronoun nightmare...).
• AzerNews ran an article reporting that the US sees Russia as a threat to democratic change in the CIS and that averting this threat is a US priority.

Reports/Newsletters

• RFE/RL Central Asia Report Vol. 5 No. 25 was published on Friday.
• IWPR's Reporting Central Asia No. 394 is now available.