Politics of Kyrgyzstan

The politics of Kyrgyzstan, officially known as the Kyrgyz Republic, takes place in the framework of a presidential system representative democratic republic, whereby the President is head of state and the Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers is head of government. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament.

Unlike one of its neighbors –  Turkmenistan – Kyrgyzstan has had a more pluralistic political system since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Three authoritarian presidents have been ousted from office since 2005 due to popular protests. Bakiyev in turn accused the opposition of plotting a coup against him. Several parliamentarians had been killed during the political unrest.

Presidential elections, originally expected in 2010, were rescheduled for 23 July 2009. President Bakiyev was widely expected to retain his mandate, while the opposition United People's Movement (OND) announced on 20 April 2009 that it would field a single candidate – Social Democratic Party leader Almaz Atambayev. The election turnout was reported at 79.3%. As of 00:45 local time in Kyrgyzstan on 25 July 2009 (with 2058 of 2330 polling districts reporting), Bakiyev had won the election with 83.8% of the vote.

In assessing the election, the OSCE stated that Bakiyev had gained an "unfair advantage" and that media bias "did not allow voters to make an informed choice." Additionally, they found that the election was "marred by many problems and irregularities", citing ballot stuffing and problems with the counting of votes. On polling day Atambayev withdrew his candidacy claiming widespread fraud, stating "due to massive, unprecedented violations, we consider these elections illegitimate and a new election should be held." An opposition rally of 1,000 people in Balykchy on election day was broken up by riot police. The protestors took control of a governmental building, demanding a new government. Riot police were sent from Bishkek, and managed to temporarily regain control of the building. Later the same day several more opposition figures were arrested, while the government claimed to have regained control of the situation. The following day, however, hundreds of opposition supporters gathered in Bishkek and marched on the government headquarters. Security personnel attempted to disperse the protestors with the use of stun grenades and live rounds, at the cost of dozens of lives. The protests continued, however, resulting in the flight of President Bakiyev to his southern stronghold of Jalal-Abad, and the freeing later the same day of the arrested opposition figures. A new government was formed under opposition leader Roza Otunbayeva, while Bakiyev remained for several days in southern Kyrgyzstan, before fleeing to Belarus, where he was given asylum by President Lukashenko. The new interim government held consultations on a new constitution, intended to increase the powers of the parliament and reduce those of the president. A referendum was held on the resulting document on 27 June 2010, and was approved by over 90% of voters, with a turnout of 72%. Elections were subsequently held on 10 October 2010. These elections resulted in five parties reaching the 5% threshold necessary to enter parliament.

Presidential elections were held in 2011, resulting in the victory of Almazbek Atambayev. In 2017, he endorsed Prime minister Sooronbay Jeenbekov for president, who won that year's presidential contest. After Atambayev retired from presidency, he began criticizing Jeenbekov and their relations worsened over time. Soon Atambayev was accused of corruption by the Jeenbekov administration. Clashes grew between security forces and Atambayev supporters, exacerbating political turmoil. Political insurgency in Kyrgyzstan amplified following controversy about the conduct of October 2020 Kyrgyz parliamentary election, where only four parties met the 7% threshold to achieve parliamentary representation, three of whom were closely aligned with the government. Opposition supporters claimed that these elections were tainted by vote buying and many other forms of irregularities. The protests resulted in en masse resignation of government officials. In October 2020, President Sooronbay Jeenbekov resigned after protests caused by irregularities in parliamentary elections on 4 October 2020. In January 2021, Sadyr Japarov was elected as the new president after winning the presidential election by landslide.

In April 2021, the majority of voters approved in the constitutional referendum a new constitution that would give new powers to the president, strengthening significantly the presidency.

Executive branch

|President

|Sadyr Japarov

|Mekenchil

|28 January 2021

|Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers

|Adylbek Kasymaliev

|Ar-Namys

|12 October 2021

The president is elected by popular vote for a maximum of two five-year terms. The chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers is appointed by the president and approved by the Supreme Council.

Cabinet of Ministers

Akylbek Japarov Government

Since 13 October 2021:

Chairman of the cabinet of ministers – Akylbek Japarov
First Deputy Chairman – Arzybek Kojoshev
Deputy Chairman – Edil Baisalov
Deputy Chairman – Bakyt Torobaev
Deputy Chairman, Head of SCNS – Kamchybek Tashiev
Minister of Foreign Affairs – Jeenbek Kulubaev
Minister of Agriculture – Askar Janybekov
Minister of Digital Development – Talantbek Imanov
Minister of the Economy – Daniyar Amangeldiev
Minister of Education and Science – Almazbek Beishenaliev
Minister of Emergency Situations – Boobek Ajikeev
Minister of Culture, Information and Tourism – Azamat Jamankulov
Minister of Finance – Almaz Baketaev
Minister of Health Care – Jarkynbek Kasymbekov
Minister of Internal Affairs – Ulan Niyazbekov
Minister of Justice – Ayaz Baetov
Minister of Transport and Communication – Erkinbek Osoev
Minister of Energy – Doskul Bekmurzaev
Minister of Labor, Welfare and Migration – Kudaibergen Bazarbaev
Minister of Defence – Baktybek Bekbolotov
Minister of Natural Resources, Environment and Technical Supervision – Dinara Kutmanova

Legislative branch

In the Soviet era, Kyrgyzstan had a unicameral legislature which was replaced in 1995 by the bicameral Supreme Council (Joghorku Keneš). The Supreme Council consisted of the Assembly of People's Representatives (45 seats; members were elected by popular vote from single member constituencies) and the Legislative Assembly (60 seats; 45 members of which were elected by popular vote from single member constituencies, and 15 of which were from national party lists on a proportional basis with a 5% threshold). All legislative terms were five years.

However, because of the political unrest, a new constitutional referendum was held on 21 October 2007 which approved a new electoral system, enlarged the parliament to 90 members and introducing party-list voting. Party-list voting is a proportional representation system of voting, where candidates are selected from central party lists rather than locally elected. Early parliamentary elections were held on 16 December 2007.

Political parties and elections

2021 presidential election

2020 parliamentary elections

Political pressure groups and leaders

Council of Free Trade Unions
Kyrgyz Committee on Human Rights – Ramazan Dyryldayev
National Unity Democratic Movement
Union of Entrepreneurs
Central Asian Free Market Institute
Kyrgyz Choroloru Movement

Judicial branch

Although the constitution provides for an independent judiciary, Kyrgyzstan's court system is widely seen as under the influence of the prosecutor's office. Low salaries make the bribery of judges commonplace. Most cases originate in local courts; they then can move via the appeals process to municipal or regional courts, with the Supreme Court the final court of appeals. Property and family law disputes and low-level criminal cases are heard by traditional elders' courts, which are loosely supervised by the prosecutor's office. Economic disputes and military cases are heard in specialized courts. The constitutional amendments of 2003 expanded the scope of the Supreme Court in civil, criminal, and administrative proceedings. Many protections of Western jurisprudence are not present in Kyrgyzstan's system, which retains many features of the Soviet system. The right to counsel and the presumption of innocence of the accused are guaranteed by law but often not practiced. There is no trial by jury. Reform legislation under consideration in 2006 would establish a jury system and bolster the independence of the judicial branch.

The Prosecutor General's Office of Kyrgyzstan oversees the enforcement of the Kyrgyz legal system and the activities of law enforcement agencies and the sentencing of criminals in concert with the judiciary.

Administrative divisions

Kyrgyzstan is divided into seven Regions (oblustar, singular – oblus) and two region-level cities* (shaar):

Batken Region (Batken)
Bishkek*
Chüy Region (Bishkek)
Issyk-Kul Region (Karakol)
Jalal-Abad Region (Jalal-Abad)
Naryn Region (Naryn)
Osh*
Osh Region (Osh)
Talas Region (Talas)

note: administrative center names in parentheses

International organization participation

AsDB
CIS
EAPC
EBRD
ECO
FAO
IBRD
ICAO
ICCt (signatory)
ICRM
IDA
IDB
IFAD
IFC
IFRCS
ILO
IMF
INOGATE
Interpol
IOC
IOM
ISO (correspondent)
ITU
NAM (observer)
OIC
OPCW
OSCE
PCA
PFP
SCO
UNAMSIL
UNCTAD (UNECE)
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
UNESCO
UNIDO
UNMIK
UPU
WCO
WFTU
WHO
WIPO
WMO
WToO
WTO
UNICEF

Notes

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External links

Erik Herron's Guide to Politics in East Central Europe and Eurasia
Government of Kyrgyz Republic

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