Sadyr Japarov Discussed Results of Election Monitoring with Heads of International Observation Missions

President of the Kyrgyz Republic Sadyr Japarov held a meeting with the heads of international observation missions working on the parliamentary elections.

The Head of State thanked the participants of the meeting for accepting the invitation to monitor the preparation and conduct of the election campaign. A total of 788 international observers from 58 countries have arrived in Kyrgyzstan.

“Such a wide representation of observers testifies to the great interest of the international community in the political processes taking place in our country,” the President noted.

Sadyr Japarov stressed that Kyrgyzstan has done a lot of work in recent years to improve its electoral legislation, drawing on international experience.

The President noted that every voter could vote at a polling station convenient for him.

This time, 100 polling stations were opened abroad for citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic living or temporarily staying abroad, compared with 59 in 2021. The number of people who voted outside the country has tripled to 26,000 (nine thousand in 2021).

The Head of State spoke about plans to develop an online voting system with reliable identification and data protection.

He emphasized that the elections were held entirely according to the majority system.

Chair of the Central Commission for Elections and Referenda of the Kyrgyz Republic Tynchtyk Shaynazarov said that the observation missions presented the results of their work.

The Heads of Mission confirmed that the electoral legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic complies with generally recognized principles and applicable norms of international law and is a sufficient legal basis for the free and democratic conduct of elections.

The heads of the monitoring groups stated that the elections were open, fair, competitive and consistent with the principles of democratic elections and ensured the free expression of the will of the citizens of the republic.

They also positively assessed the measures to ensure gender equality introduced in connection with the transition to a majority system: no more than two out of three elected deputies from one district can be of the same sex.

In addition, the meeting participants highly appreciated the introduction of a remote voting mechanism that allows citizens to vote at the nearest polling station if they cannot vote at the polling station at their place of permanent registration. The decision of the Central Election Commission of Kyrgyzstan to significantly expand the network of foreign voting to 100 polling stations in 34 countries and 89 cities also contributed to increasing the inclusiveness and accessibility of the electoral process.

The meeting was attended by the Head of the CIS Mission, First Deputy Secretary General of the CIS Igor Petrishenko, coordinator of the group of international observers from the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly, Chair of the Committee of the Majlisi Milli of the Majlisi Oli of the Republic of Tajikistan on Ensuring Constitutional Rights of the Citizens, Law and Order Mahmadali Vatanzoda, Secretary General of the IPA CIS Council Dmitriy Kobitskiy, Deputy Secretary-General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Head of the SCO International Observer Mission Piao Yangfan, Chair of the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Azerbaijan Mazahir Panahov, Chair of the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Uzbekistan Zainiddin Nizamkhodjaev, Chair of the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nurlan Abdirov, Chair of the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Tajikistan Bakhtiyor Khudoyorzoda and other representatives of monitoring missions and election authorities.