OSH, Kyrgyzstan -- Police in the southern Kyrgyz region of Osh say they have detained a person affiliated with a pro-government party for "distributing cash" among potential voters just two days before parliamentary elections.
Osh regional police spokesman Jenish Ashirbaev told RFE/RL on October 2 that the suspect, who was detained in the village of Nariman in the Kara-Suu district, was part of the election campaign team of the Mekenim Kyrgyzstan (My Homeland Kyrgyzstan) party.
Mekenim Kyrgyzstan spokeswoman Elnura Alkanova rejected the accusation, saying that the detained man had nothing to do with the party's campaign.
Ashirbaev said that the suspect had 313,000 soms ($1,650) in cash in separate five envelopes addressed with the names of individuals to whom the cash was planned to be given.
"At this moment, a pretrial investigation has been launched into what Article 192 of the Criminal Code describes as the illegal buying of votes," Ashirbaev said.
Mekenim Kyrgyzstan, along with two other pro-government parties, Birimdik (Unity) and Kyrgyzstan, as well as the opposition Ata-Meken (Fatherland) party, are expected to gain seats in the October 4 elections.
In all, 16 political parties have been registered for the vote.
Kyrgyzstan's unicameral parliament, the Jogorku Kenesh (Supreme Council), consists of 120 seats.
No party is allowed to hold more than 65 seats in the Supreme Council.
