The Kyrgyz Parliament – Jogorku Kenesh (Supreme Council) called for an early election in September on the grounds of avoiding an overlap of two important electoral campaigns in 2026 – presidential and parliamentary.[1] On November 30th, Kyrgyzstan will hold snap preliminary parliamentary elections.
A brief history of Kyrgyz parliamentarism
Since gaining independence in 1991, Kyrgyzstan has held eight parliamentary elections and had seven parliamentary convocations. In the early independence years, the country experimented with a bicameral parliamentary system, which consisted of the Legislative Assembly and the Assembly of People’s Representatives. Since 2007, however, the Kyrgyz parliament has been a unicameral body.
Throughout the last 34 years, Kyrgyzstan oscillated between parliamentary, parliamentary-presidential, and presidential-parliamentary forms of governance. Kyrgyz politics, however imperfect they might have been, were dynamic, lively, and left space for public and political debate and contestation. The most recent constitutional amendments, initiated by the current President, Sadyr Japarov, marked an important shift to a strong presidential model of governance.[2]
Notably, two out of three government coups in independent Kyrgyzstan were triggered by contested parliamentary elections, first in March 2005[3] and again in October 2020.[4] In a way, parliamentary elections often contain seeds of public unrest as proven by history. The seventh election’s results were annulled due to the mass protest and the government coup.[5] The sixth parliamentary convocation had its term extended until 2021. The eight elections, held later that year, formed the current convocation of the Parliament (seventh), which has lost a significant part of its powers in the aftermath of the constitutional referendum of 2021.
A snapshot of the upcoming parliamentary election
The upcoming election will stick to the previous Parliament’s composition of 90 members of parliament. However, there will be some important technical changes. Following the 2025 amendments to the Electoral Code, the electoral system shifted from a mixed system to a majoritarian one: MPs are elected from 30 multi-member constituencies, with each district electing three representatives via plurality voting (the top three candidates win). To ensure gender representation, it is a requirement that at least one woman must be among the top three in each district.[6]
Kyrgyzstan’s current population stands at approximately 7.5 million people, with around 4.237 million citizens who are eligible and registered to vote.[7] Voting will occur at 2,492 polling stations across the country, with voters able to cast their ballots at any station. This marks a departure from the country’s Soviet legacy, which tied voters to polling stations based on their registered address. Before, internal migrants had to travel back to their registered address to get a letter allowing them to vote in their current (temporary or permanent) location.
The candidates finished their registration by November 10. At the moment, a total of 467 candidates have been registered (276 men and 191 women). The electoral campaign has officially started and will finish at 08:00 on November 29 2025 – 24 hours before voting begins. Eligibility requirements state that candidates must be at least 25 years old, hold a higher education degree, have resided continuously in Kyrgyzstan for the last five years, and have no criminal record.[8]
Why this election matters but why it feels stale
The upcoming parliamentary election might lack the usual dynamism of Kyrgyz political scene, but it is important for three reasons.[9]
First, this election signifies a return to the pre-2007 single mandate voting system. While it might seem like an electoral reform element, this shift is de facto the last nail in the Kyrgyz political party system. In this mode, candidates’ resources, public profile, and local networks tend to outweigh their party affiliations or ideological positions. This probably is an honest move, but it does make political parties and political ideologies even less relevant than before. The changes were approved in June 2025, suggesting the plans to hold this snap election must have been in the making for a while.
Second, there are some changes in the electoral process. These include the administrative division of electoral districts, the possibility to register and vote in different polling stations, and the use of social media and social media influencers in electoral campaigns. The Central Electoral Committee approved 30 multi-mandate districts incorporating roughly 142 thousand voters each in October 2025.[10] Most of these changes reflect on the current reality of digitalisation and the extended use of social media among populations, as well as the final acknowledgement of the extreme mobility of the electorate. Kyrgyzstan is a country of fluid external and internal migration after all.
Finally, this election consolidates the constitutional changes of 2021, which have significantly reduced the Parliament’s powers while strengthening the presidency. As such, this election effectively closes the chapter on previous efforts to develop a more democratic parliamentary or parliamentary-presidential system. Kyrgyzstan is now a strong presidential system.
Although not directly related to the election, it is important to note two significant developments that are taking place against the background of the electoral campaign. President Putin is expected to make an appearance at the upcoming Collective Security Treaty Organisation’s Council meeting in Bishkek from 25-27 November 2025. A few days before this, several opposition politicians and activists were detained on allegations of plotting mass protests and attempting a coup.[11]
The parliamentary election in Kyrgyzstan feels less dynamic this year. However, it marks two important departures from all previous political processes that have taken place in the country so far. First, it signals the diminishing relevance of political party competition and, to an extent, the existence of political parties in the Kyrgyz political landscape. Second, it signifies the consolidation of a strong undemocratic presidential regime.
Dr Aijan Sharshenova, FPC Senior Fellow. Aijan is the Executive Director at Crossroads Central Asia, an independent think tank in Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic, and a Leading Visiting Researcher at the Riga Stradins University, Riga, Latvia. She holds two Masters in the EU and Central Asian Studies and in International Studies, and a PhD in Politics from the University of Leeds. Aijan’s research interests include foreign policy, public diplomacy and soft power, as well as democracy promotion and autocracy diffusion. She published extensively on Central Asian politics, focusing on the region’s relations with the EU, Russia and China. Aijan authored a book on the EU democracy promotion in Central Asia and co-edited a recent book on navigating positionality in research.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this piece are those of the individual author and do not reflect the views of The Foreign Policy Centre.
[1] Council of Europe (Venice Commission), ‘Opinion No. 1021/2021 (CDL(2021)021) – Joint Opinion on the Draft Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic’, March 2021, https://docs.un.org/en/A/RES/68/163; Jogorku Kenesh of the Kyrgyz Republic, Tөрага Нурланбек Тургунбек уулу: “VII чакырылыш өз кызыкчылыгынан өлкөнүн кызыкчылыгын бийик коюп, өзүн‑өзү таратуу чечимин кабыл алдык’, September 2025, https://kenesh.kg/posts/14810; https://www.venice.coe.int/webforms/documents/default.aspx?pdffile=CDL(2021)021
[2] Serik Rymbetov, Kyrgyzstani Parliamentary Elections Strengthen President Japarov’s Rule, Jamestown, July 2021, https://jamestown.org/kyrgyzstani-parliamentary-elections-strengthen-president-japarovs-rule/
[3] Global Nonviolent Action Database, Kyrgyz citizens overthrow President Ayakev (Tulip Revolution) 2005, n.d., https://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/content/kyrgyz-citizens-overthrow-president-ayakev-tulip-revolution-2005
[4] Aijan Sharshenova, Kyrgyzstan elects a potential strongman: Implications for international partners and the future of Kyrgyz democracy, March 2021, https://fpc.org.uk/kyrgyzstan-elects-a-potential-strongman-implications-for-international-partners-and-the-future-of-kyrgyz-democracy/
[5] Asel Doolotkeldieva, Uncovering the Revolutionaries from Epistemic Injustice: The Politics of Popular Revolts in Kyrgyzstan, Central Asian Affiairs, July 2023, https://brill.com/view/journals/caa/10/2/article-p99_1.xml
[6] AKIpress, Выборы в Жогорку Кенеш: Сколько женщин баллотируются? Список, October 2025, https://kg.akipress.org/news:2347875
[7] AKIpress, ‘В Кыргызстане насчитывается 4 млн 237 тыс. избирателей’, September 2025, https://kg.akipress.org/news:2336910
[8] The Central Electoral Commission, ‘Кандидаты/Талапкерлер: Выдвижение кандидатов’, n.d., https://shailoo.gov.kg/ru/Kandidaty_Talapkerler/Vydvijenie_kandidatov/
[9] Aijan Sharshenova, Is Politics Dead in Kyrgyzstan?, The Diplomat, November 2025, https://thediplomat.com/2025/11/is-politics-dead-in-kyrgyzstan/
[10] oper.kaktus.media, ЦИК утвердил границы избирательных округов на досрочных выборах в Жогорку Кенеш. Список, n.d., https://oper.kaktus.media/doc/532638_cik_ytverdil_granicy_izbiratelnyh_okrygov_na_dosrochnyh_vyborah_v_jogorky_kenesh._spisok.html
[11] Catherine Putz, Kyrgyz Authorities Arrest Alleged Protest Plotters Ahead of Election, The Diplomat, November 2025, https://thediplomat.com/2025/11/kyrgyz-authorities-arrest-alleged-protest-plotters-ahead-of-election/