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Over 90% of voters back new Kyrgyz constitution - official

© RIA Novosti . Andrei Stenin / Go to the mediabankReferendum in Kyrgyzstan
Referendum in Kyrgyzstan - Sputnik International
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Over 90 percent of voters supported a new Kyrgyz constitution in a referendum held on June 27, the KABAR news agency said on Thursday, citing official results.

Over 90 percent of voters supported a new Kyrgyz constitution in a referendum held on June 27, the KABAR news agency said on Thursday, citing official results.

The agency said 90.55 percent voted for the proposed referendum, which would reduce the president's powers and make Kyrgyzstan a parliamentary republic. Voters also endorsed interim leader Roza Otunbayeva as president for the transitional period until December 31, 2011.

Preliminary results after the referendum also indicated similar figures.

Sunday's referendum followed several days of bloody interethnic riots that began in the Central Asian country on June 11. The clashes between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks claimed the lives of more than 280 people, according to government figures, but Kyrgyz officials acknowledge that the real death toll may be 10 times higher.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, whose representatives were among some 190 international observers monitoring the referendum, praised the vote earlier on Monday.

The organization said the Kyrgyz authorities "should be commended for organizing a remarkably peaceful process" considering the "extremely difficult environment in which the referendum took place."

MOSCOW, July 1 (RIA Novosti) 

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