The Kyrgyz interim government declared Saturday a "Day of Silence" before the 27 June referendum on a new constitution, a Kyrgyz Central Election Committee spokeswoman said.
Campaigning for or against the constitution has been forbidden.
"On this day it is forbidden to conduct campaigning, canvassing and public events calling for participation or non-participation in the referendum," the spokeswoman said.
In a single Yes/No vote, Kyrgyz citizens will either approve or reject the draft constitution, which proposes to curtail the president's powers to convert Kyrgyzstan into a parliamentary republic.
The Kyrgyz will be asked to endorse interim leader Roza Otunbayeva as president until December 31, 2011. However, she will not be entitled to run for president in the October 2011 elections.
The new Kyrgyz president will enter office in January 2012.
Otunbayeva said on Friday around 170 international observers will monitor the referendum. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) sent a police assessment mission to Kyrgyzstan to help stabilize the situation in the country.
The much-criticized referendum comes two weeks after fighting between ethnic Kyrgyz and minority Uzbeks in the southern Kyrgyz cities of Osh and Jalalabad.
Official figures say 275 were killed in the clashes and more than 2,000 were injured, however, Kyrgyz leaders admit that the real death toll could be 10 times higher.
The state of emergency in southern Kyrgyzstan was lifted late on Friday.
Last week, the interim government introduced amendments stating that the referendum could be canceled if the country's south remained in a state of emergency.
BISHKEK, June 26 (RIA Novosti)
