Bishkek, 13 November. Eleven people have filed applications to be nominated for president of Kyrgyzstan, and the period set aside for nominations expired in the early hours of 13 November, the country’s Central Commission for Elections and Referendums said (CEC).
The election is scheduled for 27 January 2027.
The commission calls the number of contenders preliminary. Electronic signatures of voters are now being collected in their support, and this stage will last until 7 December. To be registered, each contender must collect at least 30,000 signatures. The commission accepts documents for registration until 13 December: until then contenders and their authorised representatives can submit any missing documents. The registration of candidates itself ends on 23 December.
The eleventh application was filed on 12 November by Klara Sooronkulova, the commission said. She is running as a self-nominated candidate and is the only woman among the contenders. Sooronkulova was a member of the CEC in 2010–2011 and a judge of the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court from 2011 to 2015, and in 2020 she became leader of the Reforma party. In the early presidential election of 10 January 2021 she received 14,005 votes, or 1% of those who voted.
Before her, ten people had declared their intention to take part in the election. They include the incumbent president, Sadyr Japarov, former member of parliament Iskhak Masaliev, former head of the Financial Police Syimyk Japykeev and former parliamentarian Baktybek Kalmamatov. The reports give no full list.
On the day nominations were closing, Japarov addressed citizens. He said he had received information about plans to provoke an interethnic conflict in the south of the country before the election in order to cause unrest and disrupt the vote. He named no names. “So far they are only talking about it. However, there is a possibility that these provocative designs may be carried out,” the address says. The president urged citizens not to give in to provocations and assured them that the state has enough forces to stop unrest.
What it means: Eleven applications are not yet eleven candidates. Only those who collect 30,000 signatures by 7 December and pass registration by 23 December will be on the ballot. The campaign begins against the background of the president’s warning about possible provocations.
Background: The previous presidential election in Kyrgyzstan was an early one and took place on 10 January 2021. The body that runs elections is called in full the Central Commission for Elections and Referendums of the Kyrgyz Republic.
