Moscow, July 20 (RIA Novosti) - Kurmanbek Bakiyev has been officially confirmed as the country's new president, Kyrgyz media reported Wednesday. "The Constitutional Court has confirmed the results of the July 10 presidential ballot, thereby validating Kurmanbek Bakiyev's election as President of Kyrgyzstan," Galia Alymbekova, a member of the Central Electoral Commission, said.
She said the court's confirmation had enabled the commission to register Bakiyev as president-elect, and added that the presidential regalia, including a badge and a standard, would be presented to him at the inauguration ceremony.
Bakiyev became interim president of Kyrgyzstan in April this year, following the "people's revolution" in March which forced then-president Askar Akayev, who had been in office for fifteen years, to flee the country and subsequently resign. On April 11 the Kyrgyz Parliament called a mid-term presidential election, and six candidates were registered to run for the presidency. As many as 967 international observers monitored the polling stations, including representatives of the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
Under the Kyrgyz Constitution, the president is elected for a five-year term, and can only serve for two consecutive terms.
