Bishkek:
Voters in Kyrgyzstan cast ballots in a constitutional referendum on Sunday that proceeded calmly, though the country was wracked by ethnic violence just two weeks ago.
The interim leader, Roza Otunbayeva, even traveled to the scene of the worst violence between ethnic Uzbeks and Kyrgyz, the southern city of Osh, to cast her vote in a university building.
"In this referendum, the people of Kyrgyzstan are proving that the country is united, standing on its feet and going forward," Ms. Otunbayeva told reporters. "As a people, we want to heal the wounds we have sustained in recent times."
Her government hopes an electoral mandate will elevate her authority. Ms. Otunbayeva might then take a firmer grip on the law enforcement and military forces to re-establish order in the southern districts.
"People first of all want stability. Their wish and their will are for a real government, real power," Ms. Otunbayeva said in an interview on Saturday, before the vote.
But international observers cautioned against putting too much hope in the referendum as a panacea for this troubled nation's woes. Whether the exercise of an election could assuage the still raw emotions from interethnic bloodletting remained an open question.
The new constitution would extend Ms. Otunbayeva's term as president through 2011 and establish a Parliamentary system after another election scheduled for October. As a transition measure, Ms. Otunbayeva will also hold the title of prime minster until then.
Though scheduled before the ethnic unrest, the referendum should help ease tension in the south, Omurbek Tekebayev, a deputy prime minister in charge of constitutional reform, said in an interview. It grants greater regional autonomy, including in areas of dense Uzbek settlement.
"This is how we will solve this problem," said Mr. Tekebayev, who announced his resignation after voting on Sunday, saying his work reforming the government was completed.
The referendum was taking place under tight security, the government said. About 8,000 police, and as many volunteers, were guarding polling stations.
To allow the voting in the south, authorities lifted a curfew in the cities of Osh and Jalal-Abad for one day, but will reinstate it Monday.
Authorities reported a high turnout of 43 percent by early afternoon on a sweltering summer day in Central Asia. In Bishkek, the capital, one couple languidly strolled into a polling station carrying ice cream cones.
"I will vote yes so the government can fully control the situation, and people can sleep peacefully," Aleksander Osipov, 32, an attorney, said while entering School No. 4 in Bishkek to vote. "What happened in the south is a catastrophe."
Even a smooth conduct of the referendum, however, will leave much unresolved in a country that is host to an important American military base supporting NATO troops in Afghanistan, Miroslav Jenca, the U.N. special representative to Kyrgyzstan, said in an interview Sunday.
The government must conduct a plausible investigation into the violence and reconcile the Uzbek and Kyrgyz populations in the south, a task made all the more urgent as most of the Uzbek refugees have returned to the region after briefly fleeing to Uzbekistan. Mr. Jenca said the international community should still "seriously consider" deploying peacekeeping troops. "Security concerns will remain," he said.