Kyrgyz voters today are considering a referendum to strengthen the executive and centralize legislative elections. President Bakiev aims to break gridlock by gaining control over the ousted Askar Akayev’s residuals in parliament.

RFE/RL has a good breakdown of the contents of the new constitution. They quote Bakiyev on the reforms “addressing infighting” and “balancing power more equally” between legislative and executive branches. Changes include expanding parliament from 75 to 90 seats and replacing single-member districts with list proportional representation.

Reuters is slightly more bearish about the referendum:

The proposed changes give Bakiyev additional leeway in picking officials and dissolving parliament, and pave the way for his political party to gain a power base in the chamber… The changes also raise the number of deputies and change the election process from a single-constituency system to a proportional all-party list, which should help the newly formed pro-presidential Ak Zhol party gain footing in the chamber…

There have been scattered charges of vote fraud. We should know the referendum outcome tonight.

Bakiyev responded to opposition protests last spring by agreeing to limits on his power as president. The referendum is a move in the reverse direction.

What’s interesting is how changes here track changes in Russia. Putin has for months been laying the institutional groundwork for his coming rule of the Duma.