Kyrgyz interim leader Roza Otunbayeva was officially declared on Friday the country's president for the transitional period until December 31, 2011.
The official results of Sunday's referendum on a new Kyrgyz constitution were published on Friday in government newspaper Erkin-Too. The new constitution, supported by more than 90% of Kyrgyz citizens, converts Kyrgyzstan from a presidential to a parliamentary republic.
Otunbayeva will be inaugurated on Saturday. In line with the new constitution, the 120-strong Kyrgyz parliament will appoint the prime minister and the government.
The Kyrgyz interim government came to power in April amid large-scale opposition protests that overthrew former President Kurmanbek Bakiyev. Bakiyev fled the country and has taken refuge in Belarus.
The Kyrgyz referendum followed several days of bloody interethnic riots that began in the Central Asian republic on June 11. The clashes between ethnic Kyrgyz and minority Uzbeks claimed the lives of more than 280 people, according to government figures, but Kyrgyz officials acknowledge that the real death toll may be 10 times higher.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, whose representatives were among some 190 international observers monitoring the referendum, praised the referendum and the country's interim authorities for organizing a "remarkably peaceful" vote.
BISHKEK, July 2 (RIA Novosti)
