Baku, October 31 (AZERTAC). Kyrgyzstan held a presidential election on Sunday, a vote viewed as both a democratic milestone for Central Asia and a vital chance to repair the country`s dangerous north-south divide.

The vote marks the first time that a sitting president will peacefully and willingly relinquish power in Central Asia`s 20-year post-Soviet history, a region better known for its eccentric authoritarian leaders.

Despite some concerns about the use of resources, the vote is also considered a genuine contest which, at its core, pitches the north of the country versus the south and could be won by any of the three front-runners.

“For Kyrgyzstan this is huge,” a Western diplomat in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, said on the eve of the election.

“Kyrgyzstan, as an example, is really important.”

Roza Otunbayeva, the current Kyrgyz president, assumed power as interim leader in the chaotic weeks after a revolution in April 2010. The former ambassador always said she just wanted to stabilise the country and that she would give up power at a presidential election.