Kyrgyz presidential election, 2017

Kyrgyz presidential election, 2017

15 October 2017 (2017-10-15)

Nominee Sooronbay Jeenbekov Ömürbek Babanov Party SDPK Independent Popular vote 920,620 568,665 Percentage 54.22% 33.49%

Map of the election results by districts.

President before election Almazbek Atambayev SDPK President-elect Sooronbay Jeenbekov SDPK

Kyrgyz Republic
This article is part of a series on the politics and government of Kyrgyzstan
Constitution
Executive President Sooronbay Jeenbekov Prime Minister Muhammetkaliy Abulgaziyev
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Elections Recent elections Presidential: 2011 2017 Parliamentary: 2010 2015 Referendums: 2010 2016 Political parties Politicians
Related topics Human rights Foreign relations Administrative divisions (oblasts raions) Tulip Revolution (2005) Second revolution (2010)
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Presidential elections were held in Kyrgyzstan on 15 October 2017.^[1] Incumbent President Almazbek Atambayev was not allowed to run again because the constitution sets a single six-year term for the head of state.^[2] Eleven candidates registered for the race, and from this field Sooronbay Jeenbekov of the Social Democratic Party of Kyrgyzstan won more than 50% of the vote, avoiding a runoff.^[3] Following certification of the results on 30 October,^[4] Jeenbekov was inaugurated as President of Kyrgyzstan on 24 November.^[5] The election, though not without flaws, was Central Asia’s first ever truly competitive election.^[6]

Background

The election was originally scheduled for the third Sunday in November (19 November 2017), but since Atambayev's term was set to expire on 1 December, opposition lawmakers in the Supreme Council demanded that the date be brought forward, so that there would be room for a second round of voting and the inauguration ceremony before 1 December, as to prevent a conflict of law. Atambayev announced on 29 May 2017 that the election will be held on 15 October.^[7]

In December 2016, a referendum was held on strengthening the power of the Prime Minister and was approved by 80% of voters.

A total of 773 international monitors from 59 countries and 44 international organisations were registered to observe the election,^[8] which was noted for its uniqueness in the Central Asia region: firstly, it marked the first change of a president that was not the result of a death or a revolution, and secondly, the results of the election were not known beforehand.^[9][10]

In early August 2017, the leaders of three opposition parties – Onuguu–Progress, Butun Kyrgyzstan, and Respublika–Ata Zhurt – announced the creation of a coalition called Kaira Zharaluu (Revival), which was to field a single candidate – Bakyt Torobayev.^[11] This agreement fell through, with each leader registering separately to participate in the election. Going into the election, Temir Sariyev, Ömürbek Babanov, and Sooronbay Jeenbekov, all former prime ministers, were considered to be the leading candidates.^[12]

In September 2017, after the president of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, met Kyrgyz opposition leader Ömürbek Babanov, the Kyrgyz Ministry of Foreign Affairs accused Kazakhstan of interfering in the Kyrgyz election.^[13]

Electoral system

The President of Kyrgyzstan is elected using the two-round system.^[14] None of the presidential elections held since Kyrgyzstan gained its independence from the Soviet Union have gone into a second round.^[15] Under the 2010 constitution, the presidential term is six years. Re-election is not permitted.^[16]

Prior to the election, 2,973,525 Kyrgyz citizens were eligible to vote.^[17] This figure was later revised upwards to 3,025,770. Of those, 22,281 were eligible to vote one day early, on 14 October, because they were in hospital or incarcerated, unable to visit polling stations due to poor health, or lived in remote regions.^[18]

Registered candidates

Originally 13 people were registered to participate in the election and listed on the ballot papers.

However, following registration a number of candidates withdrew.

Kamchybek Tashiev decided to withdraw in favour of Sooronbay Jeenbekov on 25 September.^[19][20] On 17 September, Bakyt Torobayev formed an alliance with Ömürbek Babanov and agreed that should Babanov win, he would become prime minister.^[21] Yet on 6 October, Torobayev announced his withdrawal from the race.^[22] On 13 October, Azimbek Beknazarov bowed out of the race.^[23] All three of the above remained on the ballot because they withdrew after the ballot papers had been finalised and printed.

The remaining 10 people, most of which are independents, were officially registered as candidates and participated in the election:^[24][12]

Registration of candidates

In order to register as an official candidate, one had to be nominated by a political party or complete the relevant documentation for running as an independent, pay a deposit of 1 million soms, collect signatures from 30,000 registered voters and pass an exam certifying above-average proficiency in the Kyrgyz language.^[27] The CEC accepted signatures until the end of 25 August 2017,^[28] and registered candidates until 10 September.

A total of 59^[29] people initially declared their intention to run for the presidency; 48 self-nominees and 11 nominated by political parties. The Central Election Commission announced on 16 August 2017 that the number of applicants had dropped to 50.^[30] One high-profile potential candidate, opposition leader Omurbek Tekebaev, was convicted on corruption and fraud charges on 16 August 2017,^[31] and as such could not run for president. On the next day the Central Election Commission invalidated the list of signatures presented by Tekebaev because he violated financing rules.^[32]

On 26 August, the CEC reported that 24 people had submitted the required amount of signatures.^[33] Meanwhile, 15 people had failed to provide any signatures and five people had failed the required Kyrgyz language test in addition to not providing signatures.^[34]

By 10 September – the end of the registration period – the CEC had rejected a total of 37 people and nine had withdrawn.^[35] The remaining 13 were officially registered as participants in the election.

The 11 candidates nominated by political parties, both major and minor, were:^[36]

• Turat Akimov, nominated by Chon Kazat
• Tursunbek Akun, leader of the Human Rights Party
• Temirbek Asanbekov, nominated by Meken Yntymagy (Homeland Accord)
• Kanatbek Isaev, leader of the Kyrgyzstan Party
• Sooronbay Jeenbekov, ex-Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan, nominated by the Social Democratic Party of Kyrgyzstan
• Akhmatbek Keldibekov, nominated by Respublika–Ata Zhurt (Republic–Homeland)
• Adakhan Madumarov, leader of Butun Kyrgyzstan (United Kyrgyzstan)
• Iskhak Masaliev, leader of the Party of Communists of Kyrgyzstan
• Temir Sariyev, ex-Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan, leader of Akshumkar (White Falcon)
• Kamchybek Tashiev, Co-chairman of Respublika–Ata Zhurt
• Bakyt Torobayev, leader of Onuguu–Progress (Development and Progress)

Jeenbekov resigned as Prime Minister on 21 August 2017, after being named as an official candidate. He stated that he "[wanted] to be in an equal position with other presidential candidates".^[37] The incumbent, Atambayev, has been criticised by opponents for using his position to promote the candidacy of Jeenbekov, a longtime ally.^[38]

Six of the eleven—Akimov, Asanbekov, Isaev, Keldibekov, Masaliev, and Tursunbek—were rejected by the CEC^[39] for not collecting enough valid signatures from voters. The remaining five were officially registered in the presidential race. One of them, Kamchybek Tashiev, later withdrew from the race.

Opinion polls

Which politicians or public figures do you trust the most? (Three spontaneous answers)

Results

Establishment candidate Sooronbay Jeenbekov won the election with more than 50% of the vote.^[40] Final results were released within three days of the election.^[41] As the results were not disputed, Jeenbekov was inaugurated on 24 November. Election monitors from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe gave a "generally positive" report of the election's fairness, but made note of concerns over "misuse of public resources, pressure on voters and vote buying",^[3] as well as media bias and the arrest of opposition leader Omurbek Tekebayev and some of Babanov’s supporters before the vote.^[6]

References

External links

• Central Election Commission (in Kyrgyz) (in Russian)