Kyrgyzstan held an historic referendum on Sunday to create Central Asia's first parliamentary democracy, with turn-out appearing high despite months of political turmoil and a wave of ethnic violence. At least 283 people were killed this month - and possibly hundreds more - in violence between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks in southern Kyrgyzstan, a former Soviet republic that hosts US and Russian military air bases and shares a border with China. Interim government leader Roza Otunbayeva arrived in a motorcade amid high security in the southern city of Osh, the epicenter of the violence. Smiling and appearing relaxed in a bright purple jacket, she cast her vote in a local university. “Our country today is on the brink of great danger, but the results of this referendum will show that the country is united and that the people are one. It will stand strong on its own feet and move forward,” Otunbayeva said after casting her vote. The referendum calls on voters to support changes to the constitution that would devolve power from the president to a prime minister, paving the way for parliamentary elections in October and diplomatic recognition for the interim government. The central election commission said 43.14 percent of the national electorate had voted by seven hours after polling booths opened across the country of 5.3 million people. There is no minimum turnout requirement. Under the new charter, Otunbayeva - the first woman to lead a Central Asian state - would be interim president until the end of 2011. Parliamentary elections would be held every five years and the president limited to a single six-year term. The bloodshed also deepened divisions between the Kyrgyz and Uzbeks who have a roughly equal share of the population in the south. Many ethnic Uzbeks say they were targeted in the violence and are loath to support what they see as a Kyrgyz initiative. Many Uzbeks, however, turned out to vote, some setting off from homes that were burned out in the violence. Friends who had not seen each other since the bloodshed began on June 10 embraced in polling-station queues in neighbourhoods of Osh.
