Six parties voted into Kyrgyzstan parliament

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan

Six political parties entered Kyrgyzstan's parliament following Sunday's general election with no single party securing a majority, the electoral authority announced late Sunday.

According to preliminary results published on the website of the Kyrgyz Central Election Commission, President Almazbek Atambayev's Social Democratic Party won 38 seats in the 120-seat parliament.

Former Prime Minister Omurbek Babanov’s Ata-Zhurt party won 28 seats; the Kyrgyzstan party took 18; Onuguu-Progress won 13; Bir Bol received 12 seats; and Ata-Meken won 11.

Commission Chairman Tuigunaaly Abdraimov told a news conference there was a 55 percent turnout.

More than 2,000 candidates representing 14 parties had fought the election but most failed to pass the 7 percent threshold while also gaining more than 0.7 percent of votes in each region.

The election saw the introduction of biometric data to prevent electoral fraud.

Kyrgyzstan, a Muslim-majority country of 6 million people, has moved closer to Russia in recent years and is part of the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union as well as the Collective Security Treaty Organization of former Soviet states.