Kyrgyzstan votes in key election

First results are due on Monday

Voting has ended in Kyrgyzstan's snap parliamentary election which the authorities hope will end two years of upheaval in the ex-Soviet republic.

First results are not due until Monday but a BBC correspondent says the ruling Ak Zhol Party seems to be preparing for an overwhelming victory.

President Kurmanbek Bakiyev called the vote after revising the constitution. Turnout is said to have been 60%.

Opposition groups have made allegations of bribery and electoral fraud.

Critics of the president say the poll and constitutional changes are a power grab and accuse him of moving towards authoritarianism.

His supporters argue that the new system is fairer and more democratic.

It was the first parliamentary vote since 2005, when allegations of a rigged ballot led to mass protests that drove President Askar Akayev from power.

Foreign monitors are not expected to comment on the election until after the preliminary results are announced.

Two tense years

Mr Bakiyev came to power on the wave of the 2005 street protests.

Profile: Kurmanbek Bakiyev Q&A: Kyrgyz election

Since then many of his former allies have turned against him, saying he has failed to put an end to corruption and cronyism.

As they wait for the results of this election, Mr Bakiyev's opponents want him to remember what happened the last time the government here tried to rig the vote, BBC Central Asia correspondent Natalia Antelava says.

"Just as we expected, the authorities resorted to massive power abuse," said Omurbek Tekebayev, head of the opposition Ata-Meken party.

President Bakiyev says he is trying to establish stability and MPs are being elected on a party-list basis for the first time, with 12 parties competing.

"It will be a new and productive parliament," Mr Bakiyev said after casting his ballot in the capital, Bishkek.

Strategic interests

Kyrgyzstan is home to Washington's only remaining military outpost in Central Asia.

Russia, which still has close Soviet-era connections with Kyrgyzstan and interests in the region's natural resources and energy transit routes, also has an air base locally.

When Mr Akayev was ousted, he took refuge in Moscow.

China, which shares a border with Kyrgyzstan, is also seen as a competitor for economic influence.