UPDATE 2 - Parliamentary Elections Kick Off In Kyrgyzstan - Central Electoral Commission

BISHKEK (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 28th November, 2021) About 2,500 polling stations have opened in Kyrgyzstan where citizens are electing a new parliament on Sunday, a spokesperson of the Central Electoral Commission told Sputnik.

"At exactly 8:00 (02:00 GMT) all the polling stations were open," the spokesperson said, specifying that about 59 polling places are yet to open abroad (21 of them are located in Russia).

Chairman of the Central Electoral Commission Nurzhan Shaildabekova told reporters later on Sunday that over 11,600 people had already voted in the elections. According to Shaildabekova, 16 out of 59 polling stations abroad have already opened.

Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov voted in the parliamentary elections on Sunday morning, at a polling station on the outskirts of the capital, Bishkek, a Sputnik correspondent reported. The president called on Kyrgyzstan's citizens to actively cast their ballots, for a better future for the country.

The polling stations in Kyrgyzstan will remain open until 20:00 local time on Sunday. All the sanitary precautions have been taken and voters will need to wear masks and use hand sanitizer.

Preliminary results from about 95 percent of the polling stations should be available hours after the elections wrap up on Sunday.

The Sunday parliamentary vote in Kyrgyzstan is being held under a new mixed electoral system where 54 seats are being chosen through party lists and the remaining 36 seats are to be elected in district races.

The previous parliamentary elections were held in Kyrgyzstan in October 2020 and were followed by mass unrest amid fraud concerns. The election results were annulled by the Central Electoral Commission and then-president of the republic Sooronbay Jeenbekov resigned. President Sadyr Japarov, who took over, has pledged that all referendums and elections will be transparent under his rule.