Kyrgyz poll will give president docile parliament

BISHKEK, Dec 16 (Reuters) - Kyrgyz voters go the polls on Sunday in a snap parliamentary election expected to hand President Kurmanbek Bakiyev's party an overwhelming victory though it has been criticised as undemocratic by the opposition.

Home to a U.S. and a Russian military airbase, Kyrgyzstan has been unstable since 2005 when protests ousted veteran leader Askar Akayev and brought Bakiyev to power.

The outgoing parliament, elected in a disputed vote in 2005 and packed with Akayev-era deputies, has been the main source of political tension since. Bakiyev dissolved it in October and promised to hold a free and fair vote this time.

But the opposition has accused Bakiyev of orchestrating a campaign to silence them and abusing power in favour of his Ak Zhol party in the run-up to the vote.

"It is a deja vu situation: everything is just like in 2005," said Almazbek Atambayev, head of the opposition Social Democratic party, referring to the 2005 unrest.

Kubatbek Baibolov, a leaders of another opposition party, Ata-Meken, added: "Massive electoral fraud is being planned."

Bakiyev was elected in a 2005 vote praised by Western monitors. But a constitutional referendum in October, which extended his presidential authority, was criticised by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

From the densely populated south to Kyrgyzstan's mountainous border with China, 2.7 million registered voters will cast their ballots from 8:00 a.m. (0200 GMT) to 8:00 p.m. (1400 GMT).

More than 250 observers from the OSCE's election monitoring arm will be watching the vote across the nation of five million.

Potential unrest in Kyrgyzstan is a worry to Russia and the West as it might spill over into other Central Asian regions.

Bakiyev says a less unruly parliament would help the government press ahead with stalled economic reforms in an impoverished country burdened by a huge external debt.

But the opposition said it feared Bakiyev might overstep the mark and block their entry into the assembly altogether.

"It seems the plan is to have one team in parliament that would vote unanimously," said Atambayev, once the driving force of anti-Bakiyev protests. "If that is the case the situation in the country would become unpredictable."

Some voters said they were ready for a stronger presidential hand for the sake of stability.

"Maybe the president will pay attention to the people now," said 50-year-old Alim, a resident of the capital Bishkek. "It is important that the election goes smoothly and quietly." (Additional reporting by Olga Dzyubenko)