2021 Elections in Kyrgyzstan: a new hope of democracy

This year in August, the Central Asian state of Kyrgyzstan, will be celebrating 30 years of independence. During the last three decades a lot has changed in the region. The region has experienced its share of ups and downs but democracy and freedom of speech has been a significant feature here. Elections have been an integral part of the system in here since 1991. The very first elections took place as the state got independence from Soviet rule and Askar Akayev came into power. He served as the President till 2005 and was overthrown the same year, in a popular uprising known as the Tulip Revolution. Soon after this, the opposition leaders formed a coalition and Kurmanbek Bakiyev won the Presidential elections with 89% vote. He was re-elected in 2009 Presidential elections. In April, 2010 another uprising took place and Roza Otunbayeva assumed power, becoming the first female Central Asian Head of State. She was succeeded by Almazbek Atambayev in 2011. Then again in 2017, Sooronbay Jeenbekov, was elected as the president. Now as the 6th Presidential election took place, Sadyr Japarov was voted into office on January 28. 

Kyrgyzstan has often been called as Central Asia’s only democracy. Throughout the early years after independence the region suffered a lot of mayhem and social, economic and political changes. Freedom House has accorded a ‘partly free’ rank to the region. There have been ruptured political system, high levels of corruption, poverty and economic instability among other things but since 2020 the political scenario is undergoing major changes. There have been many recent developments in here such as the reform in constitution. The 2021 election is another feather in the cap.

In Kyrgyzstan the parliament is elected every five years. The nation has been witnessing key-reforms within the constitution since 2010 and with the fall of the then President Bakiyev, a transition phase happened in the region from a presidential to a semi-parliamentary system. Elections are not a novice concept in the region; they generally have a high competitive spirit yet not completely free from biases. The 2021 election came in the backdrop of 2020 parliamentary election. The result of the parliamentary election clearly depicted that only the pro-government parties won the parliamentary representation. This led to the cancellation of the election by the Central Election Commission of Kyrgyzstan, as there were nation-wide protests for the same.

In October 2020, Sooronbay Jeenbekov declared that an early presidential election would take place on 10 January 2021. The reason behind this sudden announcement was the on-going protests and demonstrations and this ultimately led to the downfall of Jeenbekov, as he resigned soon after. The protesters alleged him for corruption during the parliamentary elections. During the protests two prominent politicians came into light, former President Atambayev and Sadyr Japarov, a lawyer and a former leader of the nationalist Meckenchil party. They both were imprisoned at the time of the protests. While Atambayev was soon prisoned again, Japarov seized this opportunity. At first, he was elected as the new Prime Minister but as protests continued in the country, Jeenbekov resigned and this was the time for Japarov to shine again. He became the acting President as well. This was a very new thing in here as for the very first time one person had both Presidential and Prime Ministerial powers.

Soon after becoming the Prime Minister, Japarov, started anti-corruption campaigns along with promises of flexibility and transparency in the constitution. Under the 2010 constitution, the presidential term is six years and the existing President cannot be re-elected. In order to run for Presidency, Japarov began with certain significant reforms in the constitution which were different from 2010 reforms. The new constitution strongly advocates the role of President at the cost of the parliament. It empowers the President. This is similar to other countries in the Central Asian region where the president holds the power. 

A constitutional referendum and elections for Presidential post took place on January 10. A total of 19 candidates took part in the elections. Sadyr Japarov won with a huge margin as he got almost 80% votes against Adakhan Madumarov of United Kyrgyzstan party. In the referendum voters were given a choice between presidential and parliamentary form of government or neither of them. This was significant for the region as apart from voting, people had choices to select within the different forms of government. Almost 84% voters favoured the presidential form of government. Another referendum is in pipeline for March 2021 to form a new draft for making the change in governing system official. 

Japarov’s new vision of the constitution has received a mix of criticisms from the international community. Amidst all the criticism and applause he emphasizes a single mandate voting system and focuses on making Kurultai the new executive body to which both President and Prime Minister would be answerable and can be removed of their powers if they fail to deliver. s

Kyrgyzstan has never witnessed authoritarian rule and civil society and the youth in general are very active here. As compared to the neighbouring countries, Kyrgyzstan has indeed paved way for economic reforms and gave ample space to civil society and opposition political activity. But whether this stability and change of power can lead to progression and development is a hard question to answer.

As Japarov came up with a major victory there sure are many things that lie in the pipeline for the future. His foreign policy favours Russia and his first foreign trip is scheduled for Russia. He has made very big promises at the domestic level as well. With assurances as big as to create job opportunities for migrant workers, Japarov has a long way to go. 

Nazia Jafri

Adjunct Researcher, Asia in Global Affairs