Presidential Election, 10 January 2021
In Kyrgyzstan, fewer than 40 percent of eligible voters participated in the snap presidential election and national referendum on 10 January 2021. Among 17 candidates, Sadyr Japarov, a man who was in prison barely three months ago, won the election with almost 80 percent of the vote, the second-highest total in a presidential election in Kyrgyzstan’s history after Kurmanbek Bakiev’s 89.5 percent in the 2005 poll. The vote came just three months after a popular uprising over a disputed parliamentary vote sent the country into political chaos.
Kyrgyzstan is no stranger to political upheavals. In the past 15 years, the country faced two revolutions – in 2005 and 2010 – against the corrupt political class and electoral fraud. On 10 January 2021, Kyrgyzstan votes for a new president and on constitutional changes. The election comes after protests ousted the government in the Central Asian country. But some fear it could bring the wrong sort of change.
The press service for Kyrgyzstan's Central Election Commission (BShK) says an early presidential election has been scheduled to take place on January 10. In a statement on October 24, the BShK said the decision was reached at an election commission session in Bishkek. However, these have now been delayed till June 2021 to allow a collection of constitutional modifications geared toward limiting voter fraud to be handed. Critics fear that these modifications may weaken voting rights within the Central Asian nation.
The announcement came after weeks of political upheaval that toppled the Central Asian state's government and prompted the resignation of President Sooronbai Jeenbekov. The chaos erupted after allegations of vote-buying and other improprieties marred the country's October 4 parliamentary elections. Mass protests over the vote tally, which gave victory mainly to parties aligned with Jeenbekov's government, prompted the BShK to annul the results of the parliamentary vote.
Sadyr Japarov, a former nationalist lawmaker who was jailed on charges of kidnapping a political rival, was freed from prison in the midst of the demonstrations and approved on October 14 by parliament as prime minister. Japarov also took over the powers of the presidency when Jeenbekov vacated the post. He is set to serve as acting president until the January election. Japarov has said he will run for the presidency if constitutional amendments are approved to allow it.
Kyrgyzstan's constitution forbids a person serving as an acting or interim president from taking part in a presidential election. Some legal experts say changing the constitution could require a national referendum. But since Japarov took office, parliament has been working on possible changes to the law on presidential and parliamentary elections. In an interview aired on October 19, Japarov told the Rossia-24 television channel: "If such amendments allow me to take part in the election, I will go for it. But it is early to talk about it now. The decision on that is pending."
Sadyr Japarov, resigned, his press service introduced in a press release on 13 November 2020. “I have decided to resign as president of the country, as well as to suspend the powers of the prime minister of the Kyrgyz Republic,” Japarov is quoted as saying. “As an ordinary citizen, I will participate in the upcoming presidential elections.”According to the regulation of succession, parliamentary speaker Talant Mamytov will act as president, and Japarov’s deputy Artyom Novikov will assume the workplace of prime minister.
Japarov assumed each workplaces in October, after contentious parliamentary elections and subsequent protests introduced the nation to a standstill. He had beforehand been serving an 11-year sentence in a penal colony for the alleged abduction of a political rival, however was launched by supporters within the chaos that adopted the election.
All around Kyrgyzstan's capital, Bishkek, one name dominated presidential campaign posters: Sadyr Zhaparov. In his campaign, Zhaparov has promised a new start for Kyrgyzstan and an end to the corrupt infighting between various clans that has often plagued the political landscape in the Central Asian country. Zhaparov led the latest independent polls, far ahead of 16 other candidates on the ballot. And that is despite refusing to take part in two rounds of televised presidential debates, which Zhaparov dismissed as "gossip debates."
The constitutional changes would give Kyrgyzstan a presidential system of government rather than the current mixed system, reducing the power of the parliament, which analysts say people have been disappointed with. Some of the changes in the new constitution may be aimed at curtailing freedom of speech. One section says that publications that don't conform with moral values and traditions of the people of Kyrgyzstan will be banned. Everything will be tightly controlled, and the government will have the tools, which they will call laws, to put anyone who says something they don't like behind bars.
Kyrgyz nationalist politician Sadyr Japarov vowed to fight corruption and allow more transparency into government operations after winning a presidential election to cement his hold on power just three months after a popular uprising over a disputed parliamentary vote sent the country into political chaos.
Speaking to reporters in Bishkek late on January 10, Japarov said that the fight against deeply rooted corruption in Kyrgyzstan will be among his priorities as president. He vowed to bring "openness" and "transparency" to the way government does business in the future. "During the past 30 years, corruption has taken root in every sphere of our lives. But from now on we won't allow it to continue that way," Japarov said. "We won't repeat the mistakes of previous governments."
With nearly all ballots counted, the Central Election Commission (BShK) said Japarov received slightly more than 79 percent of the vote. There were 17 candidates in the presidential race. Japarov's closest rival and fellow nationalist candidate, Adakhan Madumarov, received 6.7 percent of the vote.
The results of a simultaneous referendum showed that voters in the Central Asian state of some 6.5 million strongly preferred presidential rule, which would grant Japarov sweeping powers. According to the official results, more than 80 percent of voters backed a return to presidential rule, while only 10.8 percent supported the current parliamentary system. Nearly 5 percent voted for the third option, "against all."
A second referendum would need to be conducted to vote on a new draft constitution. On January 10, Japarov said that if the switch to a presidential system won voter support, the Constitutional Council would resume work on January 11 to prepare a new draft constitution.
On 11 April 2021, Kyrgyzstani citizens headed to the polls for the third time in six months to vote on a controversial constitutional referendum that would enhance the political power of the president, allow presidents to run for a second term, and implement initiatives designed to weaken the parliament. It had been a tumultuous half-year in Kyrgyzstan, which had witnessed a seemingly endless series of political crises, including the collapse of the former government, a short period of violent unrest, and the rise of convicted criminal Sadyr Japarov to the country's presidency. Meanwhile, the social, economic, and public health repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic continued to endanger human security in the Central Asian country.
On 21 October 2020, the Central Election Commission (CEC) scheduled the repeat of the disputed parliamentary elections for December 20. However, just a day later, the parliament approved a hastily drafted bill suspending several constitutional procedures and postponing the elections to no later than July 2021. An administrative court in Bishkek acted accordingly, on October 24, by canceling the December election date. Kyrgyzstani politics are more factious than ever and wide chunks of the political establishment remain attached to parliamentary democracy. The planned lowering of the electoral threshold from 7 to 5 percent could result in a bitterly divided parliament
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
