INSIGHTi

Kyrgyz Parliamentary Elections Annulled
Amid Protests and Unrest
Updated October 29, 2020
The Kyrgyz Republic (commonly known as Kyrgyzstan) faces political upheaval in the wake of disputed
October 4, 2020, parliamentary elections that heavily 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. 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. 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. 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, and 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 had 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 former Member of Parliament who
had been serving an 11.5-year sentence for kidnapping. Although most 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. Known for his nationalist views, Japarov enjoys the
largest social media following of any Kyrgyz politician. 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
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parliamentary speaker, Kanat Isayev, he declined the office, leaving Japarov as both prime minister and
acting president.
After Kyrgyzstan experienced two 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
limited the president to one six-year term. 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. Under the laws in force for the October 4 vote, Kyrgyzstan had one of the highest
electoral thresholds in the world—a party had to receive at least 7% of the overall vote to secure seats in
parliament, as well as 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.
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.” 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 (see Figure 1). Birimdik (24.9%) has close ties to Jeenbekov, while Mekenim Kyrgyzstan (24.3%) is
reportedly financed by Raimbek Matraimov, a former customs official implicated in a massive corruption
and money-laundering scheme.

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As he moved to consolidate power, Japarov announced his intention to combat crime and corruption.
Nevertheless, some analysts speculate that he has backing from organized crime leaders and that the
October 22-24 arrests of Matraimov and Kamchybek Kolbayev, who is designated by the U.S. Treasury
Department as a key member of a transnational criminal organization, were for show. The CEC initially
set December 20 as the date for new parliamentary elections, with a presidential election set to follow in
January, but Japarov has called for the parliamentary vote to be delayed by several months. On October
22, parliament voted to extend its current mandate into 2021 and to lower the electoral threshold to 3%.
Although Kyrgyzstan’s constitution bars the acting president from participating in a presidential election,
Japarov has stated his intention to run, indicating that he will resign the presidency in December in order
to seek office in January.
The post-election protests may reflect broader discontent within Kyrgyzstan, which remains largely
unaddressed. 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.

Author Information

Maria A. Blackwood

Analyst in Asian Policy




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