Qa'dah, Oct 10, SPA -- Kyrgyz voters cast their ballots on Sunday to create the first parliamentary democracy in Central Asia, in an election many hope can unite the country. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has stationed 40 long-term observers around the country and a further 200 short-term observers arrived for the vote. "This is a remarkable election so far. We hope this openness and transparency will be reflected on polling day, but there is still a lot of work to be done," Morten Hoeglund, special coordinator of the OSCE's short-term observers, told Reuters. Twenty-nine parties have registered for the election, of which six were widely expected to attract a large amount of support from Kyrgyzstan's 2.8 million registered voters -- slightly more than half of the country's total population. All 120 parliament seats will be filled through popular voting for party lists. No single party will be allotted more than 65 seats, regardless of its election result.
