Snap parliamentary elections were held in Kyrgyzstan on 28 November 2021.[1][2] They followed the annulment of the results of the October 2020 elections and the subsequent protests against the election's conduct. Six parties passed the 5% threshold needed to win seats in the parliament. Turnout hit a record low at less than 35%.[3][4]
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All 90 seats in the Supreme Council 46 seats needed for a majority | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Turnout | 34.60% | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
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Background edit
Following the large-scale 2020 Kyrgyz protests which resulted in the annulment of the October parliamentary election results, as well as the resignation of President Sooronbay Jeenbekov, Central Electoral Commission (CEC) head Nurjan Shyldabekova on 16 October 2020 announced that repeat elections could be held on 20 December. At a CEC meeting on 21 October, the elections were scheduled for the aforementioned date in December.[5] However, just a day later on 22 October, the Supreme Council voted on a bill postponing the snap parliamentary elections and determining that they would be held no later than 1 June 2021, after new amendments to the Constitution would be adopted.[6][7]
On 10 January 2021, the presidential elections and a government system referendum were held concurrently. As a result, Sadyr Japarov was elected as president with majority of voters approving his vision of a constitutional reform that called for a return of the country's presidential system.[8] After Japarov assumed office, during an interview with Kazakh-based Kazinform news agency, he announced that the parliamentary elections would not be held in June, but in autumn instead.[9]
During the course of political changes, Kyrgyzstan suffered a democratic backslide with a drop in its Freedom House world ranking to the "Not Free" category. In addition, several activists and academicians who criticised the authorities were charged with treason after being accused of calling for a violent seizure of power.[10][11][12]
A new draft of the Constitution was unveiled in February 2021, which resulted in more calls for a referendum that was held in April 2021 and approved by a majority of voters.[13][14] After coming to force on 5 May 2021, the seats in the Supreme Council were reduced from 120 to 90 along with MPs' powers, and a political advisory body People's Kurultai was formed.[15] The head of state (President) was granted more executive authority, as well as the power to appoint almost all judges and heads of law enforcement agencies.[15] New amendments to the Criminal Code, which were proposed by the Ministry of the Interior, were condemned by Human Rights Watch, warning that they would "endanger freedom of association and speech".[16][17]
Electoral system edit
Out of the 90 seats in the Supreme Council 54 will be elected by proportional representation in a single nationwide constituency, and 36 in single-seat districts.[18] To win seats, parties must pass a national electoral threshold of 5% of the votes cast (down from 7% in the October 2020 elections),[2] and receive at least 0.5% of the vote in each of the seven regions.[19] The lists are open, with voters able to cast a single preferential vote. No one party is allowed to be given more than half of the proportional seats.[20][21] Party lists are required to have at least 30% of the candidates from each gender, and every fourth candidate had to be of a different gender. Each list is also required to have at least 15% of the candidates being from ethnic minorities and 15% of under 35 years old, as well as at least two candidates with disabilities.[21][22]
In addition, parliament abolished the use of Form No. 2, which allowed Kyrgyz voters to register to cast their ballots outside of their official home districts. The system was intended to allow migrant workers to vote where they worked, but after record numbers of this type of ballot were cast in the previous, annulled election, it was thought that the forms were abused to manipulate vote totals in the different regions.[2]
Parties admitted to the elections edit
A total of 21 parties were admitted to the elections.[23][24] The Birimdik and Mekenim Kyrgyzstan parties did not participate, with former members joining other party lists.[25]
Opinion polls edit
| Polling firm | Fieldwork date | Sample | AJK | Yntymak | Ishenim | Ata Meken | Light of Faith | Bütün | El Ümütü | SDK | Others | Against all | Undecided | Boycott | Lead |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IRI | 18 November 2021 | 11,000 | 5% | 1% | 3% | 3% | 3% | 4% | 2% | 10% | 36% | 14% | 1% | ||
| Eurasians | 16 November 2021 | 11,000 | 14.0% | 11.0% | 9.8% | 8.2% | 7.0% | 6.6% | 5.2% | 2.7% | 9.9% | 6.3% | 16.0% | 3.30% | 3% |
| 2020 election | 4 October 2020 | 1,990,753 | 7.0% | — | — | 4.1% | 3.4% | 7.3% | — | 2.2% | 74.3% | 1.8% | — | — | 0.6% |
Results edit
Two single-member constituency seats were left vacant as the against all option received the most votes.[26]
| Party | Party lists | Constituency | Total seats | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | |||
| Ata-Jurt Kyrgyzstan | 222,005 | 19.10 | 15 | 15 | ||||
| Ishenim | 174,470 | 15.01 | 12 | 12 | ||||
| Yntymak | 141,009 | 12.13 | 9 | 9 | ||||
| Alliance | 106,955 | 9.20 | 7 | 7 | ||||
| United Kyrgyzstan | 90,223 | 7.76 | 6 | 6 | ||||
| Light of Faith | 79,025 | 6.80 | 5 | 5 | ||||
| El Ümütü | 57,642 | 4.96 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Azattyk Democratic Party | 52,183 | 4.49 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Ata Meken Socialist Party | 45,568 | 3.92 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Social Democrats | 40,280 | 3.47 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Uluttar Birimdigi | 31,382 | 2.70 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Mekenchil El Democratic Party | 20,522 | 1.77 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Liberal Democratic Party of Kyrgyzstan "Bagyt" | 12,634 | 1.09 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Patriotic Party of the Unity of Kyrgyzstan | 12,279 | 1.06 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Uluu-Zhurt | 9,376 | 0.81 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Strong Region | 8,212 | 0.71 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Political Party "Legalise" | 7,943 | 0.68 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| The Centre | 5,934 | 0.51 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Party of People's Dignity — Aruuzat | 5,869 | 0.51 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Long Live Kyrgyzstan | 5,615 | 0.48 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Party of the Greens of Kyrgyzstan | 5,266 | 0.45 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Independents | 34 | 34 | ||||||
| Against all | 27,739 | 2.39 | – | 2 | 2 | |||
| Total | 1,162,131 | 100.00 | 54 | 36 | 90 | |||
| Valid votes | 1,162,131 | 90.71 | ||||||
| Invalid/blank votes | 119,068 | 9.29 | ||||||
| Total votes | 1,281,199 | 100.00 | ||||||
| Registered voters/turnout | 3,703,420 | 34.60 | 3,619,292 | – | ||||
| Source: OSCE, The Diplomat | ||||||||
Reactions edit
After the announcement of preliminary results of the vote, opposition parties denounced the election at a protest held in Bishkek on 29 November 2021, citing alleged electoral fraud that occurred during the counting as a blackout at the tabulation screen had shown several parties falling below the 5% electoral threshold. Omurbek Tekebayev, leader of the Ata Meken Socialist Party, called for the results to be annulled once again, just as in the previous parliamentary election.[27][28] In response to the allegations, CEC chairwoman Nurjan Shyldabekova asserted that the malfunction had occurred only at the monitor display and not within the counting process, which would have affected the results.[28]
On 1 December 2021, Omurbek Tekebayev was attacked by unknown persons at a restaurant. In response, Tekebayev linked the incident to his activities, calling it "political terror".[29]
References edit
- ^ "Parliamentary elections may be set for Oct 31 or Nov 7 in Kyrgyzstan".
- ^ a b c Putz, Catherine (22 October 2020). "Kyrgyzstan Punts on Elections to Pursue Constitutional Reforms". The Diplomat. Archived from the original on 22 October 2020. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
- ^ Voting Machine Malfunctions, Record Low Turnout In Kyrgyz Parliamentary Elections, retrieved 29 November 2021
- ^ "Five Takeaways From The Kyrgyz Parliamentary Elections". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
- ^ "ЦИК Кыргызстана назначил повторные парламентские выборы на 20 декабря". inbusiness.kz (in Russian). 21 October 2020. Archived from the original on 23 October 2020. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
- ^ "В Киргизии отложили повторные выборы в парламент". Interfax.ru (in Russian). 22 October 2020. Archived from the original on 22 October 2020. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
- ^ "Повторные парламентские выборы в Киргизии пройдут до марта". Interfax.ru (in Russian). 23 October 2020. Archived from the original on 23 October 2020. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
- ^ "Kyrgyzstan election: Sadyr Japarov wins presidency with landslide". BBC News. 11 January 2021. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
- ^ "Президент КР Садыр Жапаров: Между Казахстаном и Кыргызстаном нет неразрешимых вопросов". www.inform.kz (in Russian). 1 March 2021. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
- ^ Putz, Catherine (3 March 2021). "Kyrgyzstan Tumbles in Freedom of the World Ranking". thediplomat.com. Archived from the original on 3 March 2021. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
- ^ Wood, Colleen (8 May 2021). "Kyrgyzstan's Worrying New Limits on Dissent". thediplomat.com. Archived from the original on 7 May 2021. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
- ^ "Countries & Regions". Freedom House. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
- ^ Putz, Catherine (9 March 2021). "Kyrgyzstan Expected to Greenlight Controversial Constitutional Referendum". thediplomat.com. Archived from the original on 10 March 2021. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
- ^ "Kyrgyzstan voters back presidential rule in referendum". www.aljazeera.com. 11 April 2021. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
- ^ a b "Kyrgyzstan: President signs new constitution into law | Eurasianet". eurasianet.org. 5 May 2021. Archived from the original on 5 May 2021. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
- ^ "HRW Says Proposed Legal Changes Threaten Freedoms In Kyrgyzstan". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. 3 May 2021. Archived from the original on 3 May 2021. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
- ^ "Kyrgyzstan: Proposed Legal Changes Threaten Political Dissent". Human Rights Watch. 3 May 2021. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
- ^ "Kyrgyz President Signs Bill on Changes to Electoral Law".
- ^ Kyrgyz Republic: Election for Jorgorku Keneshg (Kyrgyz Supreme Council) IFES
- ^ "Бирдиктүү шайлоо округу боюнча Кыргыз Республикасынын Жогорку Кеӊешинин депутаттарын шайлоонун алдын ала жыйынтыгы". shailoo.gov.kg (in Kyrgyz). Retrieved 29 November 2021..
- ^ a b Electoral system IPU
- ^ "THE CONSTITUTIONAL LAW On Presidential and Jogorku Kenesh Elections in the Kyrgyz Republic" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 October 2020. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
- ^ https://rus.azattyk.org/a/31535060.html Выборы-2021. В Кыргызстане стартовала агитационная кампания
- ^ https://shailoo.gov.kg/ru/news/5752/ 21 политическая партия зарегистрирована на выборы депутатов Жогорку Кенеша Кыргызской Республики.
- ^ "On Eve Of Elections, What Have Kyrgyz Gained From Their 2020 Revolution?". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
- ^ "As the Dust Settles from Kyrgyzstan's Election, What Next?". The Diplomat. 7 December 2021.
- ^ Асанов, Бакыт (29 November 2021). "Оппозиция чогулду, БШК сервердин бузулуу себебин түшүндүрдү". Азаттык Υналгысы (in Kyrgyz). Archived from the original on 29 November 2021. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
- ^ a b "Kyrgyz Opposition Protests Against Parliamentary Election Results, Citing Alleged Fraud". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. 29 November 2021. Archived from the original on 29 November 2021. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
- ^ "На политика Омурбека Текебаева напали неизвестные (видео)". Радио Азаттык (Кыргызская служба Радио Свободная Европа/Радио Свобода) (in Russian). 1 December 2021. Archived from the original on 1 December 2021. Retrieved 1 December 2021.