Kyrgyzstan’s President Almazbek Atambaev has signed a decree that sets October 4 as the date for his country to conduct elections for a new parliament.
The presidential decree, published on July 25, orders the Central Election Commission "to ensure that the election is free, fair and transparent."
It also calls for the government to take steps to safeguard public order and national security during the vote.
Kyrgyzstan remains volatile after two presidents were deposed by popular revolts in 2005 and 2010.
More than 400 people died in June 2010 as a result of clashes between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks in the southern part of the country.
Kyrgyzstan has moved deeper into the orbit of its former master Russia, which keeps a military air base there and has signed several big economic projects with Bishkek.
Ties with the United States, which has provided around $2 billion in aid since independence in 1991, soured this month when Kyrgyzstan tore up a cooperation deal after the United States gave a human rights award to a jailed local dissident serving a life sentence on charges of inciting ethnic hatred.
