BISHKEK, August 2 (RIA Novosti) - Kyrgyzstan's newly re-elected leader, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, was sworn in as president on Sunday.
The inauguration took place at the government building in Bishkek, and was attended by lawmakers and the president of the neighboring Central Asian republic of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev.
The Kyrgyz Constitutional Court ruled on Thursday that the July 23 presidential election was carried out in line with the country's constitution. However, opposition parties and European monitors said the vote was flawed.
According to the Central Election Commission, Bakiyev won 76% of the vote, while opposition candidate Almazbek Atambayev came second with 8.4%.
Bakiyev, 59, came to power in 2005 after leading street protests that forced his predecessor, the long-serving Askar Akayev, into exile, but has since come under pressure over a perceived failure to tackle economic problems and increasingly authoritarian stance.
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe monitors in Kyrgyzstan said last week's election failed to meet international standards, and cited cases of ballot box stuffing, inaccuracies in the voter lists, multiple voting, and other irregularities.
The OSCE also said Bakiyev used administrative resources to ensure his reelection, and that campaigning was uneven, with candidates having unequal access to media.
Observers from former Soviet republics said no major violations had been registered.
