An impressive report from the Associated Press is up on the Guardian which describes a 70% turnout in the Kyrgyzstan referendum today. It seems incredible that the result is already known (and I rather suspect some people will ask questions about the speed of the count, given the circumstances) but there are heroic tales of how ballot papers have been taken to the refugee camps and workarounds to allow people to vote who lost their IDs in the fighting. Currently, the government is reporting 90% in favour of the new constitution – if true then it rather gives the lie to some of the theories about the violence two weeks ago being a popular action by Kyrgyz not in favour of reform.
There have been no reports of increased violence (although there are still, daily outbreaks on a small scale) designed to disrupt today’s vote. Credit is due to the Kyrgyz government for pressing ahead and making this happen peacefully, despite the odds.
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