By RIA Novosti
Bishkek : Participants of a Kyrgyz opposition congress in the Central Asian country’s capital Bishkek said Saturday they would start protest rallies countrywide if the authorities fail to fulfill their demands.
About 2,500 delegates from fifteen parties and 10 public organizations from all regions gathered in Bishkek’s Sport Palace for the annual congress, called kurultai.
The delegates, who said the government failed to cope with its tasks, called the social-economic and political situation in the country extremely poor, demanded that the results of a constitutional referendum in fall last year be declared invalid and that the Central Election Commission members be brought to account for alleged violations.
The impoverished state has been in a state of constant instability since President Kurmanbek Bakiyev came to power, toppling his long-serving predecessor in 2005.
The opposition has accused Bakiyev of tightening his grip on power while failing to bring stability and economic growth. His party won most seats in parliament in the early December 2007 election, which came after two years of political upheaval.
Kyrgyzstan’s main opposition party, Ata Meken, failed to win any parliamentary seats despite coming second, garnering 8.7% of the vote, due to a complicated threshold system, which meant that the party missed out on seats by a mere handful of votes.