Voters in Kyrgyzstan went to the polls on Sunday to decide whether or not to approve a new constitution that would substantially boost presidential powers.
The referendum comes three months after Sadyr Zhaparov was elected following the ousting of the previous president amid protests in the Central Asian republic.
“As you know, we have changed the constitution many times in the past 30 years, but every time we copied our constitution from other countries,” Zhaparov told a media conference. “As of today, this is the first constitution that we have prepared ourselves.”
Last year, Zhaparov was freed from jail where he was serving time on charges of abducting a regional governor amid a dispute over a gold mine.
He was broken out by demonstrators who contested the results of a previous election.
On release, he mobilised stone-hurling supporters to evict President Jeenbekov from office and took the helm as interim leader.
Kyrgyzstan, a nation of 6.5 million people that borders China, is a member of Russia-dominated economic and security alliances.
It hosts a Russian airbase and depends on Moscow’s economic support.
