BISHKEK -- Unknown assailants have attacked the leader of a Kyrgyz opposition party that has refused to recognize the results of a weekend parliamentary election.
Ata-Meken (Homeland) leader Omurbek Tekebaev said the December 1 assault took place in the Park Hotel restaurant in Bishkek, after around 70 men wearing black clothes and face masks arrived there in several minibuses.
The politician said he was beaten by three of the men, and that the attack was connected to his political activities.
His supporters came to the State Committee for National Security (UKMK) demanding an immediate probe into the incident and that those behind the assault be punished.
President Sadyr Japarov ordered the Interior Ministry to conduct a thorough investigation, his office later said, while Deputy Prime Minister Edil Baisalov tweeted that there was "no place for political violence in Kyrgyzstan."
The attack took place as around 300 supporters of Ata-Meken and several other opposition parties again gathered in front of the Central Election Commission (BShK) offices in the capital, accusing the commission of fraud and demanding a new vote.
At issue is a glitch during the counting in which technical problems caused a tabulation monitor at the BShK to suddenly show that several opposition parties had fallen below the 5 percent barrier needed to gain entrance to parliament.
BShK Chairwoman Nurjan Shaildabekova on December 1 reiterated that there was no reason to doubt the election results.
Shaildabekova said a full hand count of the ballots was now over, and that the final official results will be announced after the data is added to the electronic system.
The November 28 elections were a repeat of a failed parliamentary vote held in October 2020 that was quickly annulled by the BShK amid chaotic protests over alleged campaign violations and unfair voting practices.
According to preliminary results announced by the BShK on November 30, three pro-government parties -- Ata-Jurt (Fatherland) Kyrgyzstan, Yntymak (Harmony), and Ishenim (Trust) -- the opposition Butun (United) Kyrgyzstan, as well as three parties affiliated neither with the government nor the opposition -- Yiman Nuru (Ray of the Faith), Alyans (Alliance), and El Umutu (People's Hope) -- managed to pass the 5 percent threshold to get seats in the parliament .
Ata-Meken, Azattyk (Liberty), the Social Democrats, and Uluttar Birimdigi (Union of Ethnicities), all of whom have cried foul, failed to pass the barrier.
