Presidential election in Kyrgyzstan 2017

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Results of the presidential election by district, blue: Sooronbai Dscheenbekow ; Green: Ömürbek Babanow ; Red: Adakhan Madumarov

The 2017 presidential election in Kyrgyzstan was held in Kyrgyzstan on October 15, 2017 . The election marked a peaceful and democratic change in the office of President from Almasbek Atambayev , who did not run for a further term in the 2017 election, to Sooronbai Dscheenbekow from the Social Democratic Party of Kyrgyzstan (SDPK), who won the election in the first ballot could. The presidential election represented a significant success in the process of democratization is in Kyrgyzstan and is considered a historical event in general of authoritarian regimes dominated Central Asia .

Electoral system

The Kyrgyz President is elected in a nationwide majority vote in accordance with the country's constitution. In the first ballot, a candidate needed an absolute majority of the votes cast to win a six-year term as President and Head of State of Kyrgyzstan. If none of the candidates succeed, the constitution provides for a runoff election. This has not yet been used in Kyrgyz history, but would be held between the two most successful candidates in the first round of voting. The right to vote applied to all Kyrgyz citizens who were 18 years of age or older at the time of the election. Prisoners and people with mental disorders were excluded . The basis for the organization of the election was a central electoral register in which citizens entitled to vote were recorded with biometric features such as fingerprints , signature and a biometric passport photo . Before the election, citizens were asked to register in the biometric electoral roll or to check the existing entry. At the end of the registration phase, around 80% of the nominal voting population of Kyrgyzstan was registered in the register. Several conditions had to be met in order to register a candidate for the presidential election. The candidate had to be between 35 and 70 years old at the time of the election, be able to prove a residence in Kyrgyzstan for a total of at least 15 years and be able to speak the Kyrgyz language . Under these conditions, possible candidates could register themselves as independent candidates or be nominated by a political party. To register the candidacy, it was necessary to pay a fee to the Central Election Commission, which was entrusted with organizing the election, and to obtain at least 30,000 signatures from supporters. 59 candidates applied to the Central Electoral Commission to register, nine withdrew their candidacy during the registration phase and 37 candidates were rejected by the Electoral Commission because they were unable to produce the required number of signatures or pay the envisaged fee. This left a candidate field of 12 applicants who went into the election campaign.

background

After the stability in Kyrgyzstan was threatened by the change of government in Kyrgyzstan in 2010 and the unrest in southern Kyrgyzstan in 2010 , a transitional government under Rosa Otunbajewa succeeded in stabilizing the situation and in the 2011 presidential election in Kyrgyzstan to appoint a new president. Almasbek Atambayev from the SDPK won the election and held the highest office in Kyrgyzstan for the entire six-year term. On May 29, 2017, Atambayev announced October 15 of the same year as the election date and reiterated his statement that he would not run again under the constitution. Previously, Atambayev had pushed through a referendum to strengthen the role of the prime minister vis-à-vis the president and thus created a possible means of limiting the power of his successor. Atambayev also announced that he would continue to be active in politics, but not strive for the office of prime minister. An important aspect of the political background in the run-up to the election was the arrest and conviction of the well-known politician and possible presidential candidate Ömürbek Tekebajew . Together with Atambayev, he was one of the most important figures in the ousting of President Kurmanbek Bakiyev and was instrumental in drafting the Kyrgyz constitution. Tekebajew was also the founder of the Ata Meken party and its chairman. In the course of Atambayev's amendment to the constitution in favor of the Prime Minister, the two politicians broke out into an open dispute. After Tekebayev researched controversial business activities of Atambayev in Turkey , he was arrested in Bishkek on February 26, 2017 after his return from Turkey and sentenced to eight years in prison on August 16, 2017 . Tekebayev's supporters protested in the courtroom while the verdict was being pronounced. After his arrest, the party nominated Ata Meken Tekebajew as a candidate for the presidential election, the required number of 30,000 signatures was clearly exceeded. However, the signatures were declared invalid by the Central Election Commission, as the signature campaign was not financed exclusively by the candidate's campaign budget and therefore violated the Kyrgyz electoral law. After a protest by those responsible for Ata Meken, the Kyrgyz supreme court upheld the election commission's decision and excluded Tekebayev from the election. In connection with the trial of Tekebayev, accusations were raised that the action was politically motivated and served to weaken the opposition. Even before that, there was criticism of the increasingly tough approach of President Atambayev and the ruling party SDPK against opposition and critical media. The presidential elections, which were to be of historic importance for the democratization of the country, were therefore also marked by concerns about a return to an authoritarian state .

Sooronbai Dscheenbekow ( SDPK )

Candidates

After the registration process by the Central Election Commission, twelve candidates applied for the office of President. With the withdrawal of Kamchibek Tashiev's candidacy , the number of applicants was reduced to eleven. The greatest opportunities were given to four well-known politicians in the country:

Ömürbek Babanow
Adakhan Madumarov (Butun Kyrgyzstan)

The high level of awareness of the candidates strengthened the population's interest in the election and at the same time ensured a highly personal election campaign. At a cabinet meeting on August 21, Dscheenbekov announced his resignation from the post of prime minister to run for the office of president. According to his own statements, he rejected the possibility of temporarily resigning from his post as prime minister for reasons of equal opportunities . As a candidate for the SDPK, Dscheenbekow was supported by his party friend and predecessor Atambayev. Dscheenbekov's strongest competitor was the former prime minister, entrepreneur and parliamentary group leader of the second largest parliamentary group in the Kyrgyz parliament after the parliamentary elections in Kyrgyzstan in 2015 , Ömürbek Babanow. He officially ran as an independent candidate, but was supported by the Respublika party, which he founded . The candidates Sarijew and Madumarov, as top candidates from major political parties, were also better known and better organized than the other, independent candidates. The failure of an opposition alliance called Kaira Zharaluu played a key role in shaping the field of candidates. This alliance was formed by the parties Ata- Shurt, Onuguu-Progress and Butun Kyrgyzstan and envisaged the nomination of a joint top candidate. Due to the strong electorate of the planned alliance, especially in the south of Kyrgyzstan, observers gave the candidate from Kaira Zharaluu a chance of winning the election. The alliance broke up in September 2017 in the dispute over the nomination of a joint top candidate and the common political course. The biggest political surprise in the run-up to the election was the announcement by Kamchibek Tashiev, chairman of the Ata-Shurt party, that he would support the candidacy of Dscheenbekov after the failure of Kaira Zharaluu. He justified this decision with the maintenance of stability and peace in Kyrgyzstan, observers, however, assumed secret agreements between Dscheenbekow and Tashijew, which were not made public. The failure of the opposition alliance resulted in a duel between the candidates Dscheenbekow and Babanov.

Election campaign

The election campaign was generally controversial and lively. The campaign was funded by donations from individuals and organizations as well as by the candidate's campaign budget. The use of state funds to finance the election campaign was not intended. The official election campaign began on September 10 and ended on October 13, and campaign activities were prohibited on the day before the election and on election day itself. The most visible and elaborate campaigns were carried out by the favored candidates Dscheenbekow and Babanow, followed by Sarijew, whose candidacy was also given opportunities. The freedom of assembly was guaranteed as far as possible during the election campaign, individual only within building with political significance in the capital Bishkek were gatherings prohibited. Nevertheless, SDPK candidate Dscheenbekow was able to hold his final rally on October 13 in the central Ala Too Square in Bishkek. Overall, the election campaign increased in intensity on election day. Widespread means of campaigning were election posters , leaflets and election advertising , and the prominent candidates in particular traveled across the country and held campaign events in numerous cities. The media in Kyrgyzstan accompanied the election campaign with intensive reporting, although the independence and neutrality of numerous media had to be questioned. In many cases, the influential media belonged to politicians or party-affiliated organizations via opaque ownership structures and therefore reported biased reports about the election. State television, which tended to portray the ruling party SDPK positively, also showed similar tendencies. On the other hand, an important element of the election campaign was political debates on television with the participation of the presidential candidates.

In addition to the arrest of the chairman of the Ata-Meken party, Ömürbek Tekebajews , the election campaign was marked by further arrests and convictions. MP Aida Salyanova, also from Ata-Meken, was sentenced to five years in prison for abuse of office , MP Kanatbek Isayev, who was believed to be a supporter of Babanov, was arrested on suspicion of inciting mass rioting. These tough crackdowns on opposition politicians were classified by government critics as politically motivated and contributed to a politically heated mood during the election campaign. Before the election, Ömürbek Babanov expressed his conviction that he would be able to win the election in the first ballot. This statement was rejected by the incumbent President Atambayev with a reference to the fight against false information. Overall, the president intervened more and more actively in the final phase of the election campaign and supported Sooronbai Dscheenbekow, while he repeatedly found clear words against Babanov. This active role of the president sparked discussions, as he was actually obliged under the constitution to be non-partisan . In contrast to the President, a case was initiated against Vice Prime Minister Duishenbek Zilaliev after a call for the election of Dscheenbekov at an event in Batken , which resulted in his impeachment. Another controversy developed during the election campaign following a speech Babanov made in Osh on September 28 . This was aimed at the Uzbek minority in the region and was reproduced in the media in an abbreviated form outside of the context and reinterpreted as incitement to ethnic conflicts in the region, similar to the unrest in southern Kyrgyzstan in 2010 . This manipulative representation in the media led to demonstrations against Babanov in Bishkek , Osh and Jalalabat .

Result

The official election result reflected the expected duel between Babanov and Dscheenbekow, but meant a clear victory in the first ballot for the candidate of the Social Democratic Party of Kyrgyzstan, Sooronbai Dscheenbekow, who thus became the new President of Kyrgyzstan. The turnout was given as 56.32%.

candidate Political party votes received absolutely Share of votes cast
Sooronbai Dscheenbekow Social Democratic Party of Kyrgyzstan 920.620 54.22%
Ömürbek Babanow independently 568,665 33.49%
Adachan Madumarov Butun Kyrgyzstan 110.284 6.57%
Temir Sarijew Akshumkar 43,311 2.55%
other candidates - 28,707 1.7%
against all candidates - 12,371 0.73%
invalid - 10,788 0.64%

With his victory in the first ballot, Sooronbai Dscheenbekow was legitimized for a six-year term in the office of President of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan. The election result was greeted with surprise by observers after polls had suggested a much closer duel between Babanov and Dscheenbekow. Despite this electoral success for the SDPK candidate, the share of 54.22% of the vote was the lowest election result for a president in the history of independent Kyrgyzstan and thus presented the new president with the challenge of resigning the country after a controversial and in some cases highly polarized election campaign again to one.

consequences

The result of the election was officially recognized only by election winner Dscheenbekow. The defeated Babanov did not explicitly recognize the result at a press conference on October 16 and waived congratulations to the election winner. At the same time he referred to the importance of political stability for the country and announced that a possible protest against the election result would only be considered through legal means. The third-placed candidate Adakhan Madumarov also did not recognize the election result and justified this with the disenfranchisement of Kyrgyz people living abroad, the majority of whom could not participate in the election, and the lack of processing of violations of the electoral law during the election campaign. Election winner Dscheenbekow was sworn in as the new President of Kyrgyzstan on October 24, 2017, which brought about the historic peaceful change of power. The outgoing President Atambayev was relieved after the election and announced that he would run for the Social Democratic Party in the next parliamentary elections. Proceedings had previously been initiated against the defeated candidate Babanov, which referred to his speech in Osh on September 28 and accused the presidential candidate of calling for violent changes to the constitutional order and inciting ethnic unrest. Babanov described the procedure as politically motivated and remained in exile in Russia after receiving health treatment in Moscow . The first half of Dscheenbekov's tenure was marked by a steadily deteriorating relationship with his predecessor Atambayev, which eventually turned into an open rivalry. The provisional climax of the conflict was Atambayev's arrest on August 8, 2019 after bloody clashes between security forces and supporters of the ex-president.

rating

Overall, the election was rated positively and viewed as a step towards further democratization of the country and more political stability. A full observer mission from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) was among the numerous national and international observers chosen . OSCE observers praised the election as a step towards strengthening democratic institutions and described them as free, competitive and well organized. The observers saw potential for improvement in particular in the counting of votes, which was not transparent and was accompanied by irregularities. There were also complaints during the election campaign, including the illegal use of state resources, the active role of the then president and the obstruction of lesser-known candidates and their campaigns.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ OSCE (ed.): OSCE / ODIHR Election Observation Mission Final Report . 1st edition. Warsaw March 8, 2018, p. 5-10 .
  2. ↑ Atambaev Says Kyrgyzstan To Hold Presidential Vote On October 15. Accessed June 1, 2020 .
  3. ↑ Kyrgyz Court Upholds Rejection Of Jailed Opposition Leader's Campaign Signatures. Retrieved June 3, 2020 .
  4. ↑ Analysis: Shades Of A Vendetta Dim Kyrgyzstan's Bright Moment. Retrieved June 1, 2020 .
  5. ↑ a b Abdujalil Abdurasulov: Is Kyrgyzstan's vote free and fair? In: BBC News . October 15, 2017 ( bbc.com [accessed June 3, 2020]).
  6. ↑ The editor: Kyrgyzstan: Soronbay Jeenbekov becomes the new PM. In: Novastan German. April 16, 2016, accessed on June 3, 2020 (German).
  7. ^ Nationalist opposition wants the government to resign - derStandard.at. Retrieved June 3, 2020 (Austrian German).
  8. ^ Kyrgyzstan: Prime Minister Sarijew resigned - derStandard.at. Retrieved June 3, 2020 (Austrian German).
  9. ↑ Kyrgyz PM Jeenbekov Resigns To Run For President. Retrieved June 5, 2020 .
  10. ^ Kyrgyzstan: Opposition Front Collapses In Sight of Election | Eurasianet. Retrieved June 4, 2020 .
  11. ^ Following The Twists, Turns In Kyrgyzstan's Presidential Race. Retrieved June 5, 2020 .
  12. ↑ OSCE (ed.): OSCE / ODIHR Election Observation Mission Final Report . 1st edition. Warsaw March 8, 2018, p. 15-17 .
  13. ↑ Abdujalil Abdurasulov: Is Kyrgyzstan's vote free and fair? In: BBC News . October 15, 2017 ( bbc.com [accessed June 5, 2020]).
  14. ↑ OSCE (ed.): OSCE / ODIHR Election Observation Mission Final Report . 1st edition. Warsaw March 8, 2018, p. 11-14 .
  15. ↑ OSCE (ed.): OSCE / ODIHR Election Observation Mission Final Report . 1st edition. Warsaw March 8, 2018, p. 29 .
  16. ↑ Analysis: In Kyrgyzstan, An Unexpected Victory For Atambaev's Chosen Candidate. Retrieved June 5, 2020 .
  17. ^ At Final Press Conference, Kyrgyz President Plots His Political Future. Retrieved June 5, 2020 .
  18. ↑ OSCE (ed.): OSCE / ODIHR Election Observation Mission Final Report . 1st edition. Warsaw March 8, 2018, p. 24-25 .
  19. ^ Showdown in Kyrgyzstan. August 11, 2019, accessed June 5, 2020 .
  20. ↑ OSCE (ed.): OSCE / ODIHR Election Observation Mission Final Report . 1st edition. Warsaw March 8, 2018, p. 1-2 .