Politics

Parliamentary elections begin in Kyrgyzstan

Moscow, Nov 28 (EFE).- Polling stations opened in Kyrgyzstan on Sunday for the first parliamentary elections since the Central Asian country’s political system changed from parliamentary to presidential.

Voting will begin at 8am and end at 8pm.

A total of 3,703,429 people are eligible to vote to elect members of the single-chamber parliament, or Jogorku Kenesh, for a five-year term.

The new legislature will now have 90 deputies elected for the first time through a mixed system, in place of the 120 that form the outgoing parliament.

Voters will elect 54 deputies from 1,015 candidates on the lists of 21 registered parties and 36 from 296 candidates in single-mandate constituencies.

Parties that overcome the 5 percent threshold will obtain seats, while candidates in single-mandate constituencies will need a simple majority to do so.

A total of 2,435 polling stations were opened throughout the country, and another 95 overseas, according to the electoral authorities.

The Central Election Commission accredited 736 international observers, including 190 from the Commonwealth of Independent States, 308 from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and 17 from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

The elections were called after the failed parliamentary vote in October last year, which culminated in violent clashes and the resignation of then-president Sooronbay Jeenbekov.

The presidency was assumed by opposition leader Sadyr Japarov after being released by his supporters from prison. He had been imprisoned for attempting to seize power by force in the country in 2012.

After being elected in January 2021 and proposing a constitutional referendum in April that changed Kyrgyzstan’s political system from parliamentary to presidential and also the structure of parliament, Japarov called snap parliamentary elections. EFE

fss/pd/tw

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