INSIGHTi

Kyrgyz Parliamentary Elections Annulled
Amid Protests and Unrest
Updated October 20, 2020
The Kyrgyz Republic (commonly known as Kyrgyzstan) faces political upheaval in the wake of disputed
October 4, 2020, parliamentary elections that favored pro-government parties. As a parliamentary
republic that holds contested elections, Kyrgyzstan has long been considered the most democratic country
in Central Asia, with a vibrant civil society and a higher degree of press freedom than found elsewhere in
the region. Corruption is pervasive, however, and political institutions remain weak. Opposition parties
alleged widespread irregularities in the October 4 vote, including vote-buying and voter intimidation;
these assertions were deemed credible by international election observers. Mass protests broke out in the
capital, Bishkek, on October 5. Protestors seized the government building that houses both Parliament and
presidential offices. Hundreds, including multiple parliamentary candidates, were reportedly injured in
clashes with police; one protestor was killed.
On October 6, the Central Election Commission (CEC) announced that the October 4 results had been
annulled, resulting in a power vacuum as the prime minister, the parliamentary speaker, and other officials
announced their resignations. Although the term of the current parliament has not yet expired, lawmakers
had difficulty establishing a quorum throughout the week of October 5, impeding attempts by some
Members of Parliament to initiate impeachment proceedings against President Sooronbai Jeenbekov and
making it legally impossible to appoint a new prime minister and speaker. In the early hours of October 6,
protestors freed several prominent jailed politicians, including Sadyr Japarov, a nationalist former
Member of Parliament who had been serving an 11.5-year sentence for kidnapping. Although the others
were returned to prison, Japarov, who maintains that the charges against him were politically motivated,
quickly emerged as a leading contender for the post of interim prime minister. After violent clashes
between Japarov’s supporters and rival groups on October 9, President Jeenbekov declared a state of
emergency, which has since been lifted. Jeenbekov announced his resignation on October 15, one day
after Japarov was ultimately confirmed as prime minister. Although by law the presidency should have
passed to the new parliamentary speaker, Kanat Isayev, he declined the office, leaving Japarov as both
prime minister and acting president. New parliamentary elections will most likely take place on
December 20; a presidential election is set to follow in January. Although Kyrgyzstan’s constitution bars
the acting president from participating in a presidential election, Japarov has raised the possibility of
amending the law, which may require a national referendum.
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Kyrgyzstan has twice experienced revolutions that ousted authoritarian-leaning presidents, in 2005 and in
2010. A new constitution adopted in 2010 converted the country to a semi-parliamentary system and
imposed a one-term limit on presidents, who are elected directly via universal suffrage and serve for six
years. The prime minister, nominated by the parliamentary majority and appointed by the president,
shares executive power. Kyrgyzstan’s unicameral parliament, the Jogorku Kenesh (“Supreme Council”),
has 120 members; deputies are elected to five-year terms in a closed-list proportional system. No single
party can hold more than 65 seats, and independent candidates are not allowed to run. Kyrgyzstan has one
of the highest electoral thresholds in the world—a party must receive at least 7% of the overall vote to
secure seats in parliament. Additionally, a party must win at least 0.7% of the vote in each of the country’s
seven provinces and the cities of Bishkek and Osh. International observers have criticized both the 65-seat
limit and the double threshold as limiting voters’ ability to express their political will. The Jogorku
Kenesh is set to lower the 7% threshold to 3% or 5% in advance of the December elections.
Figure 1.Preliminary Results as of October 4

Source: Graphic created by CRS. Data from Kloop.kg.
Because the country’s two largest parliamentary groupings had fractured in recent years, there were no
clear front-runners in the October elections. Of the 16 parties that fielded candidates, 5 are new and 3
currently hold parliamentary seats. Nevertheless, the candidates included many veteran politicians
reshuffled into new groupings. Although Kyrgyzstan enjoys a greater degree of political pluralism than its
Central Asian neighbors, in the assessment of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe,
“political parties are built around personalities, rather than around platforms, and tend to rely on funding
from businesses, thus often reflecting private interests.” Controversial decisions by the CEC concerning
party registration raised questions regarding the body’s impartiality before the elections.
According to preliminary results issued by the CEC on October 4, four parties cleared the 7% electoral
threshold, accounting for about 65% of all votes cast, with 24.9% for Birimdik, 24.3% for Mekenim
Kyrgyzstan, 8.9% for the Kyrgyzstan Party, and 7.2% for Butun Kyrgyzstan. Birimdik, Mekenim
Kyrgyzstan, and the Kyrgyzstan Party are seen as pro-government. Mekenim Kyrgyzstan is reportedly

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financed by Raimbek Matraimov, a former customs official implicated in a massive corruption and
money-laundering scheme. It remains unclear which parties will participate in the December electoral
contest.
The post-election protests may reflect broader discontent within Kyrgyzstan. The ongoing Coronavirus
Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has strained the country’s under-resourced healthcare system and
exerted a significant negative impact on Kyrgyzstan’s economy, which depends heavily on remittances
from Russia. An August poll conducted by the International Republican Institute showed widespread
dissatisfaction among the Kyrgyz public, with 53% of respondents stating that the country was heading in
the wrong direction; unemployment, COVID, and corruption were named as the three top problems facing
Kyrgyzstan. Some analysts assess that the elections spurred protests at least in part because they upset the
balance between southern and northern regional interests.
Both Russia and China, which shares a border with Kyrgyzstan and holds much of the country’s foreign
debt, have expressed concern and urged a speedy resolution to the situation. Many Members of Congress
and other U.S. policymakers have long voiced support for consolidating Kyrgyzstan’s gains as Central
Asia’s only parliamentary democracy. Promoting a more inclusive and accountable democracy is a stated
goal of U.S. foreign policy in Kyrgyzstan, and Kyrgyzstan is one of 21 countries worldwide that
participate in the House Democracy Partnership.


Author Information

Maria A. Blackwood

Analyst in Asian Policy




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