Electoral Forum in Kyrgyzstan Discussed Current Challenges in Electoral Systems

The Issyk-Kul Electoral Forum “Modern Approaches to Electoral Participation: From Theory to Practice” kicked off in Cholpon-Ata, the Kyrgyz Republic.

President of the Kyrgyz Republic Sadyr Japarov, Chair of the Central Commission for Elections and Referenda of the Kyrgyz Republic Tynchtyk Shainazarov, Deputy Chair of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Kyrgyz Republic Edil Baisalov, Secretary General of the Organization of Turkic States Kubanychbek Omuraliev, Secretary General of the Parliamentary Assembly of Turkic States Mehmet Süreyya Er, Secretary General of the Commonwealth of Independent States Sergey Lebedev, and Secretary General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Nurlan Yermekbayev, all addressed the participants with welcoming words. Head of the OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek Alexey Rogov and UN Resident Coordinator in the Kyrgyz Republic Antje Grawe spoke at the opening.

Secretary General of the IPA CIS Council Dmitriy Kobitskiy also addressed the event. According to him, electoral participation is not limited to marking a ballot and dropping it in the ballot box.

“What unites most voters in all the Commonwealth countries is the perception of elections as the most significant political event in the country’s life, at the level of a national holiday. These observations are supported by the high voter turnout in the most CIS countries over the past five years,” the Secretary General noted.

At the same time, Dmitriy Kobitskiy believes that it is important to consider the opposite phenomenon, which is electoral abstention. This can be both a form of protest and a result of a lack of legal culture and civic identity.

Deputy Head of the IPA CIS Council Secretariat – Director of the International Institute for Monitoring the Democracy Development, Parliamentarianism and Suffrage Protection of Citizens of IPA CIS Member Nations (IPA CIS IIMDD), Doctor of Law, Professor Ivan Mushket presented a report “Factors of Electoral Participation and their Impact on the Results of Elections and Referendums: the Experience of the CIS Member States.”

The plenary session included presentations by representatives of electoral bodies from the CIS countries, Georgia, the Republic of India, the Republic of Estonia, and international organizations.