Kyrgyzstan’s newly elected parliament convened on Wednesday for the first time since a snap election last month cemented the grip of President Sadyr Zhaparov, who has sought to suppress dissent in what was once Central Asia’s most democratic country.
Results announced last week showed that no opposition candidate won a seat in the Nov. 30 vote, in which hundreds of candidates vied for the 90 seats in the one-chamber parliament, the Jogorku Kenesh.
A total of 87 lawmakers were chosen in a new electoral system in which 30 constituencies elect three individual lawmakers each, instead of party ticket voting. In one constituency, results were nullified because of violations, and a new election will be held for the three remaining seats.
The election was held a year earlier than scheduled. Officials had asserted that the election otherwise would fall too close to the 2027 presidential one. Voter turnout was low, at 36.9%, according to the Kyrgyz Central Election Commission.
Observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said the vote was efficiently run, but “while fundamental freedoms are protected by the constitution, they are increasingly limited in practice.”
In the week before the election, Kyrgyz authorities launched arrests, searches, and interrogations against opposition figures and journalists, which critics described as politically motivated.
Many of those targeted have been accused of calling for “mass unrest.” Kyrgyzstan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs has reported the arrest of at least 10 opposition figures.
Some of those targeted are allies of former President Almazbek Atambayev, who ruled Kyrgyzstan from 2011 to 2017 and now lives in Spain. Atambayev’s son was detained, and his wife was summoned for questioning.
Addressing the newly elected parliament on Wednesday, Zhaparov criticized the opposition and the previous government and touted the new electoral system.
“The root of all the problems hindering the country’s development has always been opaque parliamentary elections, corruption and the practice of coming to power through connections,” the president said. “Most importantly, we can say that political corruption has been eradicated under the new system.”
Political analysts have called the election “boring and predictable.”
Emil Juraev, an independent analyst in Bishkek, told The Associated Press that the new parliament consists of lawmakers who “support or don’t criticize the policies of the president.”
Juraev viewed the parliamentary election as a dress rehearsal for the presidential vote. “Naturally, the presence of a stable parliament is important in order to conduct presidential elections rather confidently,” he said.
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