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- Kenesh is not for everyone: how will the parliamentary elections in Kyrgyzstan be held?
Kenesh is not for everyone: how will the parliamentary elections in Kyrgyzstan be held?
Parliamentary elections will be held in Kyrgyzstan on November 30. The electoral procedure will take place with a number of innovations — without party lists, with automatic vote counting. In general, similar campaigns have twice ended in mass riots and a change of government in the country's history, but nothing like this is expected this time. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.
Districts and contributions
The current parliamentary elections in Kyrgyzstan will be held ahead of schedule. They were originally scheduled for November next year. However, there were several problems with this. Firstly, the voting almost coincided with the presidential election, which complicated the electoral process.
The second point is that Kyrgyzstan adopted a new electoral code this summer, which has seriously changed the process of forming a parliament. In this regard, there was talk in the country that the current composition does not reflect the existing realities. As a result, in September, for the first time in the country's history, the majority of deputies voted for voluntary self-dissolution, and new elections were scheduled for November 30 this year.
I must say that the current elections will be held according to the new electoral system. The main innovation is a sharp decline in the role of political parties. Previously, 54 people got into the 90-seat parliament (Jogorku Kenesh) according to the proportional system, that is, according to party lists, now all 90 will be elected in majority districts.
In total, 30 such districts have been created in the country, and three people will be elected from each to the legislative assembly. At the same time, the boundaries of these formations have also changed. Previously, they roughly coincided with administrative-territorial units, that is, regions and districts, now they are calculated based on the population size — 130-140 thousand voters each.
Separately, the authorities have taken care of gender equality: one woman must be elected from each district. If there are only men in the top three, then the third number gives way to the woman who scored the most votes. Another innovation was the increase in the amount of election contributions. Previously, a candidate for deputy handed over 100 thousand soms to the CEC, but now he has to fork out 300 thousand (278 thousand rubles).
The current elections will also feature a new stage of digitalization. It is not necessary for a voter to have a passport with him to express his will — a phone with the Tunduk public services application installed is enough. In addition, automated systems will count the votes after the procedure. "In the future, we will get to the point where people will be able to vote directly from home via the Internet, it only takes time," promises President Sadyr Japarov.
Fighting coups
Over the years of independence, Kyrgyzstan has experienced several waves of street protests and riots, three times as a result of such demonstrations, the government in the republic has completely changed, twice it happened just after the parliamentary elections. The first such episode, the "tulip revolution", occurred in 2005, when the opposition took control of major cities after the announcement of the results of the vote and forced President Askar Akayev to flee the country.
The second episode occurred in the fall of 2020, when, after the parliamentary elections, the opposition again accused the authorities of fraud. In Bishkek, protesters clashed with the police: the former used stones and Molotov cocktails, the latter used water cannons and tear gas. As a result, the protesters stormed the White House, prominent politicians were released from prison, and President Sooronbai Jeenbekov resigned.
Protesters outside the White House in Bishkek on October 6, 2020
Sadyr Japarov became the new head of the republic, who criticized the political traditions that had developed in the country, promising to prevent more coups. In one of his speeches, he noted that the only truly spontaneous and popular revolution was the one that brought him to power. According to him, all the others were funded from abroad and occurred under external influence.
Against this background, the country's leadership has taken up the task of strengthening the vertical of power. In 2021, Japarov initiated a constitutional reform. As a result, the head of the republic received additional powers, including the right to appoint and dismiss ministers and heads of local administrations, as well as to determine the composition of the judiciary. The Parliament, on the contrary, lost some of its functions, and the number of deputies decreased from 120 to 90.
In addition, law enforcement agencies have become more active in the country, which regularly began to report on the exposure of a conspiracy. In total, in recent years, the security forces have reported a dozen similar cases. Traditionally, in such cases, the security services publish photographs of bundles of money, weapons, and audio recordings in which the rebels discuss a plan of action.
The most exotic case seemed to be the preparation of a coup, which was allegedly supposed to take place in November last year. According to the Interior Ministry, the conspirators planned to gather people at the stadium under the guise of sports games, then they wanted to direct the crowd to the center of Bishkek. During the arrest, the defendants were found to have a thousand bottles of vodka, a ton of rice and a horse, which was planned to be slaughtered for cooking pilaf.
At the same time, the authorities began to look closely at the forces associated with foreign centers of influence. Last spring, the country passed a law on foreign agents, which obliges entities receiving foreign funding to report income. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken then expressed concern and threatened a crisis in relations between the two countries, Sadyr Japarov in response recommended Washington not to interfere.
In August of this year, the country adopted a new media law, which requires mandatory registration not only for traditional publications, but also for online platforms, including websites and blogs. In addition, the document states that the share of foreign participation in the media should not exceed 35%. Just before the current elections, a number of portals in the country were recognized as extremist and blocked.
As a result, the election campaign is unusually quiet this time, and President Sadyr Japarov says there will be no new coups. "First of all, we will not give them a reason. Secondly, the former weak state is no longer there, the state is now strong. Thirdly, the people already know well who needs to be supported and who should be in power," he argues.
What the experts say
Igor Shestakov, a Kyrgyz political scientist and director of the Oh Ordo Center for Expert Initiatives, believes that the November 30 vote will be held with a low turnout.
— I don't expect any protests, I think everything will be calm. The candidates for deputies focused mainly on local issues, there is a lot of talk about education and health issues, and in Bishkek, politicians are arguing about the fight against traffic jams. The agenda is very "herbivorous", everyday. To be honest, I don't see much difference between the current candidates for mandates and those who participated in the local elections last year," he notes.
Alexander Kobrinsky, a Russian political scientist and director of the Agency for Ethnonational Strategies, says that Kyrgyzstan is changing rapidly.
— The vertical of power characteristic of the Central Asian region is being built in the country, authoritarian tendencies are becoming more and more noticeable. In this sense, the current elections are becoming another illustration. Firstly, the role of the parties is minimized, meaning that the deputies are scattered, they are not united by any structure or ideology. Secondly, a property qualification has actually been introduced, candidates must pay a large deposit, which is not refundable, that is, an ordinary person cannot get into parliament," he emphasizes.
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