Kyrgyzstan - June 2025

A new law remade Kyrgyzstan’s electoral system before next year’s parliamentary elections. The existing parallel voting system will be replaced with a single non-transferable vote system based on 30 constituencies with three representatives each. At least one of every three representatives from each constituency must be a woman, meaning the country will reach its 30 per cent gender quota for the first time. The law also disadvantages smaller political parties, as the non-refundable candidate registration fee has been raised to KGS 9 million (about USD 103,000) for party-affiliated candidates, but will remain KGS 100,000(about USD 1,115) for independent candidates. Japarov has frequently backed loyal businessmen as independent candidates. International observers have also criticized the process of drawing electoral districts, which was done without the participation of or consideration for the country’s ethnic minorities and will likely further marginalize them from political processes.

Sources: Times of Central Asia, Office of the President, Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe