An election in Kyrgyzstan is cleaner than usual

THE LAST time Kyrgyzstan had a general election, just over a year ago, the consequences were, by any democratic criterion, far from orthodox—and even by the eccentric and sometimes violent standards of the mountain republic they were unusual. When the incumbent president wangled a parliamentary majority with copious vote-buying, protests erupted that led to his resignation. At the same time Sadyr Japarov, who was serving a ten-year prison term for kidnapping, was sprung by his backers from jail at night and propelled into the posts of prime minister and acting president. He was subsequently confirmed as president at an election in January. Now, in the parliamentary election that he oversaw on November 28th, a majority was duly found to support his agenda. And this time a revolution looks less likely.