IPA CIS Observers Met With Representatives of Political Parties on Eve of Elections in Kyrgyzstan

The IPA CIS Observer Team met with representatives of a number of political parties that nominated candidates for the parliamentary elections to be held in Kyrgyzstan on 4 October.

The participants discussed the norms allowing to maintain political and gender balance: no matter how many votes a party gains, it cannot get more than 65 out of 120 seats in the parliament, every fourth candidate must be of a different gender, quotas are provided for national minorities and candidates under 35.

Leader of the “Ata-Merken” party Omurbek Tekebayev noted the growth of civic consciousness in the country, and stressed that one of the main goals of his party was to form a new political culture, characterized by freedom, literacy and responsibility of the voter.

The head of the “Republic” party headquarters Ruslan Kazakbayev spoke at a meeting with observers about the peculiarities of the election campaign. 155 people are running for the Jogorku Kenesh from the opposition party. He also noted that the elections were held under fierce competition, but in general – in open and democratic manner.

Deputy Chairman of the “Mekenim Kyrgyzstan” party Kanatbek Aziz told the observers about the legislative reforms that the party’s candidates planned to carry out in case of victory in the elections.

The high competitiveness of the elections was also noted by Chairman of the “Birimdik” party, the leader in the previous convocation parliament, Marat Amankulov and spoke in detail about the party’s youth outreach.