Kyrgyzstan holds referendum on constitutional changes

Kyrgyz voters headed to the polls yesterday in a constitutional referendum that includes amendments which will boost the power of the prime minister - something opposition groups have criticized in the ex-Soviet, Central Asian nation.

According to the Central Election Commission, 2.5 million people were registered to vote in the country's seventh referendum for constitutional change which have been subject to harsh criticism by civil rights' groups.

According to the proposed amendment, the premier will benefit from new powers relating to budget legislation while also allowing the prime minister to appoint and dismiss Cabinet ministers and regional governors without consulting the president.

Sunday's vote was initiated by President Almazbek Atambayev. His critics have claimed the move could allow him to shift into the prime minister's seat after his current term as president ends next year but Atambayev denies such intentions.

Political infighting ahead of the referendum has fueled fears of a new round of instability in the impoverished nation of 6 million on China's mountainous western frontier. Kyrgyzstan has seen the violent overthrow of two presidents since gaining independence in 1991.

Atambayev's supporters cast the amendments amid efforts to increase the power of parliament and strengthen checks and balances between branches of government.

Another proposed amendment would define marriage as a union between a man and a woman, a change that would effectively ban gay marriages.

Kyrgyzstan is one of the two poorest countries to emerge from the former Soviet Union, with a strong dependence on cash transfers sent home by hundreds of thousands of Kyrgyz people working in Russia.

Kyrgyzstan is the only country in Central Asia with a single-term presidency and the country has adopted a new constitution three times since it gained independence in the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.

The first post-Soviet constitution was introduced in 1993 and the second was passed by referendum in 2007.Compiled from wires