Kyrgyzstan to elect new parliament
By Vusala Abbasova
Parliamentary elections will be held in Kyrgyzstan on October 4 this year by the president's decree.
Kyrgyzstan's President Almazbek Atambayev has signed an executive order on July 25, ordering the Central Election Commission "to ensure that the election is free, fair, and transparent in accordance with the country’s law," reported Trend.
Atambayev instructed the government to allocate the necessary funds to prepare for and conduct the election.
The president also calls for the government to take required measures to ensure the citizens’ rights and freedoms, and protect public order and security during the voting process.
Kyrgyzstan’s parliament, known as the Jogorku Kenesh, consists of 120 seats and members are elected for a term of five years by party-list proportional voting.
Election campaigning will start on September 4 in accordance with Kyrgyzstan’s law.
Kyrgyzstan, a predominantly Muslim nation of 5.5 million, is the only country in Central Asia that has come through two revolutions – the Tulip Revolution, which overthrew the first president in February 2005, and another in 2010 to depose Kurmanbek Bakiyev.
The country has remained fragile following the two revolutions.
An interim government, led by interim President Roza Otunbayeva of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), was established in 2010.
She held a referendum in June 2010, whereby Kyrgyz citizens voted in favor of a parliamentary democracy and constitutional changes, including curbing presidential powers.
As a result of the referendum, the first parliamentary elections took place on October 10, 2010, making Kyrgyzstan the first parliamentary democracy in Central Asia.
The parliamentary majority coalition, which consisted of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Respublika Party, Ata-Meken Socialist party, and the conservative Ar-Namys, was disbanded following the withdrawal of Ata-Meken Socialist party in August 2012.
The three factions – SDP, Ar-Namys and the Ata Meken Socialist party – formed a new political alliance in September 2012.
The Ata-Meken party announced its withdrawal from the Kyrgyz government coalition on March 18, 2014.
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