2017 Kyrgyz presidential election

Presidential elections were held in Kyrgyzstan on 15 October 2017.[1] Incumbent President Almazbek Atambayev was not allowed to run again because the constitution sets a single six-year term for the head of state.[2] Eleven candidates registered for the race, and from this field Sooronbay Jeenbekov of the Social Democratic Party of Kyrgyzstan won more than 50% of the vote, avoiding a runoff.[3] Following certification of the results on 30 October,[4] Jeenbekov was inaugurated as President of Kyrgyzstan on 24 November.[5]

2017 Kyrgyz presidential election

15 October 2017
Turnout	56.32%
Nominee Sooronbay Jeenbekov Ömürbek Babanov Adakhan Madumarov Party SDPK Independent Butun Kyrgyzstan Popular vote 920,620 568,665 110,284 Percentage 54.67% 33.77% 6.55%
Map of the election results by districts.
President before election Almazbek Atambayev SDPK President-elect Sooronbay Jeenbekov SDPK

The elections marked the first change of president that was not the result of the death of the incumbent or a revolution, and also the first in which the results were not known beforehand.[6][7] Some described the vote as Central Asia's first genuinely competitive presidential election.[8]

Background

The elections were originally scheduled for the third Sunday in November (19 November 2017), but since Atambayev's term was set to expire on 1 December, opposition lawmakers in the Supreme Council demanded that the date be brought forward, so that there would be room for a second round of voting and the inauguration ceremony before 1 December, as to prevent a conflict of law. Atambayev announced on 29 May 2017 that the elections would be held on 15 October.[9]

In December 2016, a referendum was held on strengthening the power of the Prime Minister and was approved by 80% of voters.

In early August 2017, the leaders of three opposition parties – Onuguu–Progress, Butun Kyrgyzstan, and Respublika–Ata Zhurt – announced the creation of a coalition called Kaira Zharaluu (Revival), which was to field a single candidate – Bakyt Torobayev.[10] This agreement fell through, with each leader registering separately to participate in the election. Going into the election, Temir Sariyev, Ömürbek Babanov, and Sooronbay Jeenbekov, all former prime ministers, were considered to be the leading candidates.[11]

In September 2017, after Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev met Kyrgyz opposition leader Ömürbek Babanov, the Kyrgyz Ministry of Foreign Affairs accused Kazakhstan of interfering in the Kyrgyz election.[12]

Electoral system

The elections were held using the two-round system,[13] although none of the presidential elections held since independence from the Soviet Union had gone to a second round.[14] Under the 2010 constitution, the presidential term is six years. Re-election is not permitted.[15]

In order to register, candidates had to be nominated by a political party or complete the relevant documentation for running as an independent, pay a deposit of 1 million soms, collect signatures from 30,000 registered voters and pass an exam certifying above-average proficiency in the Kyrgyz language.[16] The CEC accepted signatures until the end of 25 August 2017,[17] and registered candidates until 10 September.

Candidates

A total of 59 people initially declared their intention to run for the presidency;[18] 48 self-nominees and 11 nominated by political parties. The Central Election Commission announced on 16 August 2017 that the number of applicants had dropped to 50.[19] One high-profile potential candidate, opposition leader Omurbek Tekebaev, was convicted on corruption and fraud charges on 16 August 2017,[20] and as such could not run for president. On the next day the Central Election Commission invalidated the list of signatures presented by Tekebaev because he violated financing rules.[21]

Jeenbekov resigned as Prime Minister on 21 August 2017, after being named as an official candidate. He stated that he "[wanted] to be in an equal position with other presidential candidates".[22] The incumbent, Atambayev, has been criticised by opponents for using his position to promote the candidacy of Jeenbekov, a longtime ally.[23]

On 26 August, the CEC reported that 24 people had submitted the required amount of signatures.[24] Meanwhile, 15 people had failed to provide any signatures and five people had failed the required Kyrgyz language test in addition to not providing signatures.[25] Of the eleven candidates nominated by political parties, six of them—Turat Akimov (Chon Kazat), Kanatbek Isaev (Kyrgyzstan Party), Akhmatbek Keldibekov (Respublika–Ata Zhurt), Iskhak Masaliev (Party of Communists of Kyrgyzstam), and Tursunbek Akun (Human Rights Party)—were all rejected by the CEC[26] for not collecting enough valid signatures from voters.

By 10 September – the end of the registration period – the CEC had rejected a total of 37 people and nine had withdrawn.[27] The remaining 13 were officially registered as participants in the election. Finally, 13 people were registered to participate in the elections and listed on the ballot papers. However, a number of candidates subsequently withdrew; Kamchybek Tashiev decided to withdraw in favour of Sooronbay Jeenbekov on 25 September.[28][29] On 17 September, Bakyt Torobayev formed an alliance with Ömürbek Babanov and agreed that should Babanov win, he would become prime minister.[30] Yet on 6 October, Torobayev announced his withdrawal from the race.[31] On 13 October, Azimbek Beknazarov bowed out of the race.[32] All three of the above remained on the ballot because they withdrew after the ballot papers had been finalised and printed.

The remaining ten candidates, most of which were independents, were officially registered and participated in the elections:[33][11]

Number on ballot[34]	Name	Occupation	Nominated by
1	Ernis Zarlykov	Ex-First Vice Mayor of Bishkek	Independent
2	Toktaiym Umetalieva	Civic activist[35]	Independent
3	Temir Sariyev	Leader of Akshumkar, ex-Prime Minister (2015–16)	Akshumkar
4	Ulukbek Kochkorov	Leader of Zhany Door	Independent
5	Taalatbek Masadykov	International relations specialist	Independent
6	Ömürbek Babanov	Leader of Respublika–Ata Zhurt, ex-Prime Minister (2011)	Independent
7	Arstanbek Abdyldayev	Businessman	Independent
8	Azimbek Beknazarov	Lawyer	Independent
9	Sooronbay Jeenbekov	Ex-Prime Minister (2016–17)	Social Democratic Party of Kyrgyzstan
10	Adakhan Madumarov	Leader of Butun Kyrgyzstan	Butun Kyrgyzstan
11	Kamchybek Tashiev	Co-chairman of Respublika–Ata Zhurt	Respublika–Ata Zhurt
12	Arslanbek Maliyev	Leader of Aalam	Independent
13	Bakyt Torobayev	Leader of Onuguu–Progress, Member of the Supreme Council of Kyrgyzstan	Onuguu–Progress

Opinion polls

Date	Pollster	Sariyev	Babanov	Torobaev	Tekebaev	Jeenbekov	Madumarov	Tursunbek	Undecided	Against all
1–15 July 2017	SKDS	18%	14%	11%	7%	4%	4%	3%	19%	20%

Which politicians or public figures do you trust the most? (Three spontaneous answers)

Date	Pollster	Babanov	Atambaev	Torobaev	Tashiev	Madumarov	Tekebaev	Sariyev	Murzakmatov	Jeenbekov
15 February–2 March 2017	CISR	35%	31%	11%	11%	7%	7%	3%	3%	3%

Conduct

A total of 773 international monitors from 59 countries and 44 international organisations were registered to observe the elections,[36]

Results

Establishment candidate Sooronbay Jeenbekov won the elections with more than 50% of the vote.[37] Final results were released within three days of the election.[38] As the results were not disputed, Jeenbekov was inaugurated on 24 November. Election monitors from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe gave a "generally positive" report of the election's fairness, but made note of concerns over "misuse of public resources, pressure on voters and vote buying",[3] as well as media bias and the arrest of opposition leader Omurbek Tekebayev and some of Babanov’s supporters before the vote.[8]

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Sooronbay Jeenbekov	Social Democratic Party	920,620	54.67
	Ömürbek Babanov	Independent	568,665	33.77
	Adakhan Madumarov	Butun Kyrgyzstan	110,284	6.55
	Temir Sariyev	Akshumkar	43,311	2.57
	Taalatbek Masadykov	Independent	10,803	0.64
	Ulukbek Kochkorov	Independent	8,498	0.50
	Azimbek Beknazarov	Independent	2,743	0.16
	Arstanbek Abdyldayev	Independent	2,015	0.12
	Arslanbek Maliyev	Independent	1,621	0.10
	Ernis Zarlykov	Independent	1,554	0.09
	Toktaiym Umetalieva	Independent	1,473	0.09
Against all			12,371	0.73
Total			1,683,958	100.00
Valid votes			1,683,958	99.18
Invalid/blank votes			13,910	0.82
Total votes			1,697,868	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			3,014,434	56.32
Source: Central Election Commission

References

1. Atambaev Says Kyrgyzstan To Hold Presidential Vote On October 15 Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty, 29 May 2017.
2. Putz, Catherine (16 February 2017). "Kyrgyzstan Sets November Date for Presidential Election". The Diplomat. Trans-Asia Inc. Retrieved 19 August 2017.
3. Gizitdinov, Nariman (15 October 2017). "Jeenbekov Wins Kyrgyz Presidential Vote as Rival Urges Stability". Bloomberg News. Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
4. Центризбирком определил результаты выборов Президента Кыргызской Республики 15 октября 2017 года
5. "At Final Press Conference, Kyrgyz President Atambaev Plots His Political Future". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
6. Shades Of A Vendetta Dim Kyrgyzstan's Bright Moment
7. "Kyrgyzstan's Presidential Election Looks To Be A Cliffhanger". Archived from the original on 12 September 2017. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
8. "Kyrgyzstan holds an election that was not a foregone conclusion". The Economist. 18 October 2017.
9. Xuequan, Mu (30 May 2017). "Kyrgyzstan sets date for 2017 presidential election". Xinhua. Bishkek. Xinhua. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
10. Kyrgyzstan: Opposition Front Collapses In Sight of Election
11. Presidential Candidates Start Campaigning In Kyrgyzstan
12. "Kyrgyzstan Protests Over Kazakh 'Support' for Opposition Candidate". The New York Times. 20 September 2017. Retrieved 20 September 2017.
13. Kyrgyzstan IFES
15. Factbox: Key political risks to watch in Kyrgyzstan Reuters, 1 October 2010.
16. Pannier, Bruce (17 June 2017). "Kyrgyzstan's Presidential Election Looks To Be A Cliffhanger". Qishloq Ovozi. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Archived from the original on 12 September 2017. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
17. В ЦИК КР поступили подписные листы кандидата на должность Президента КР К.Шайымбетова
19. Kostenko, Julia (16 August 2017). "50 people apply for post of president of Kyrgyzstan". 24.kg. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
20. "Kyrgyz opposition leader convicted ahead of election". Reuters. 16 August 2017. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
21. "Kyrgyz Court Upholds Rejection Of Jailed Opposition Leader's Campaign Signatures". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. Retrieved 6 September 2017.
22. "Kyrgyz PM Jeenbekov Resigns To Run For President". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 21 August 2017. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
23. Atambaev Issues Fiery Warning Ahead Of Kyrgyz Presidential Vote
24. ЦИК КР отказал в регистрации 20 кандидатам на должность Президента КР
25. Kostenko, Julia (17 August 2017). "Пять кандидатов в президенты Кыргызстана провалили экзамен по госязыку". 24.kg. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
26. Общая информация о кандидатах на должность Президента Кыргызской Республики 2017 - ЦИК КР. shailoo.gov.kg (in Russian). Retrieved 6 September 2017.
27. Общая информация о кандидатах на должность Президента Кыргызской Республики 2017
28. Kamchybek Tashiev officially withdraws from presidential race
29. ЦИК КР отменил регистрацию кандидата на должность Президента Кыргызской Республики К.Ташиева
30. Following The Twists, Turns In Kyrgyzstan's Presidential Race
31. ЦИК КР отменил регистрацию кандидата на должность Президента Кыргызской Республики Б.Торобаева
32. Kyrgyzstan's 'Revolution Bulldozer' Bows Out Of Politics
33. Отчет о движении денежных средств из избирательных фондов кандидатов на должность Президента Кыргызской Республики
34. ЦИК КР провел жеребьевку между зарегистрированными кандидатами на должность Президента КР по определению очередности включения в избирательный бюллетень
35. Losing Candidate In Kyrgyz Presidential Election Who Wins In Long Run
36. Центризбирком аккредитовал 2 международных наблюдателя
37. Analysis: In Kyrgyzstan, An Unexpected Victory For Atambaev's Chosen Candidate
38. If the election results won't be disputed, inauguration must take place before December 4