The populist Sadyr Japarov largely won the presidential election in Kyrgyzstan on Sunday January 10, after the first round, with a majority of voters also voting in favor of strengthening presidential powers. 

According to the preliminary results of the electoral commission, Sadyr Japarov won almost 80% of the vote after counting more than 90% of the ballots.

His main rival, Adakhan Madoumarov, comes in second with less than 7% of the vote. 

Sadyr Japarov, 52, was serving a prison sentence for hostage-taking when he was freed by his supporters in October, during the latest crisis that rocked a Central Asian country with a tumultuous political history.

This former Soviet republic, hailed for its pluralism, is also considered the most unstable in the region.

Fear of authoritarian power

The Kyrgyz people also voted Sunday on constitutional amendments intended to change the country's political regime, with more than 80% of voters speaking in favor of a primacy given to the presidency.

This reform will give wide prerogatives to the new president when a new constitution is adopted.

It ends the mixed political system adopted by the country in 2010 after two successive presidents deemed too authoritarian were ousted from power by demonstrations. 

Opponents of Sadyr Japarovn fear that his victory will lead to authoritarian power, more like neighboring Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, all ruled with an iron fist since the fall of the USSR.

In Bishkek, the capital covered with a thick winter fog caused by pollution, the pensioner Vera Pavlova affirms that Sadyr Japarov "has promised to raise wages and pensions".

His detractors lend him links with the underworld

Bekjol Nourmatov, a 77-year-old pensioner, accuses Sadyr Japarov of having "plunged the people into chaos" last year.

Akylbek Derkenbaev, a 29-year-old entrepreneur, fears that his country will fall back into a government crisis if the "confidence" of the people is weakened after the election, because of the return of "old men" to politics.

During the serious political crisis of October, caused by legislative elections deemed rigged by the opposition, Sadyr Japarov was released from prison by his supporters, before a court overturned his conviction.

He has since redoubled his efforts to present himself as an enemy of organized crime and corruption.

His detractors, however, lend him links with the underworld. 

In Bishkek on Friday, he strove to adopt a unifying tone, calling on a crowd of several thousand to mutual "understanding" and "respect".

With an economy weakened by the Covid-19 pandemic, the new president will have to come to terms with greater dependence on the great Chinese neighbor and Russia, an allied country where hundreds of thousands of Kyrgyz work.

Fear of trouble

Kyrgyzstan, which experienced two revolutions in 2005 and 2010 as well as episodes of inter-ethnic violence, is used to political crises.

The disputed legislative elections in October were canceled by the authorities in the hope of settling the crisis, but then-president Sooronbai Jeenbekov had to give in and resign two weeks later, under pressure from Japarov supporters.

It was the third time that a Kyrgyz head of state had resigned following protests since independence in 1991.

After serving as interim ruler of the country for a time, Sadyr Japarov left his post to run for president.

His rivals say his campaign has benefited from state resources, in which his allies now occupy key positions.

On Friday, the national security committee announced it was examining evidence indicating that "some presidential candidates and their supporters" were planning unrest after the ballot, without naming these candidates. 

With AFP

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