Ex-Fugitive Japarov Looks To Cement Power In Kyrgyzstan's Presidential Vote And Referendum

Nationalist politician Sadyr Japarov will look to cement his hold on power in Kyrgyzstan’s presidential election on January 10, just three months after a popular uprising over a disputed parliamentary vote sent the country into political chaos.

The Central Asian country of some 6.5 million will also vote on January 10 in a simultaneous referendum to choose between keeping its parliamentary system or reverting to a presidential system. Another option is “against all.”

A poll conducted in December by the Bishkek-based research group Central Asian Barometer found that 64 percent of respondents intended to vote for Japarov. Only three percent said they would vote for his closest rival and fellow nationalist politician Adakhan Madumarov. The 15 other candidates barely registered in the survey.

The vote comes after the results of the disputed October 4 parliamentary elections were annulled after opposition supporters took to the streets to condemn large-scale vote-buying campaigns benefitting parties close to then-President Sooranbay Jeenbekov.

By nightfall on October 5, the protests had turned violent as clashes with police left one protester dead. A day later, the government had been chased from power with Jeenbekov, seemingly in hiding. He resigned soon afterward.

Meanwhile Japarov, 52, was among several prominent politicians freed from prison by protesters during the unrest. He had been handed a 10-year prison sentence for hostage-taking during a protest against a mining operation in northeast Kyrgyzstan in October 2013. He has steadfastly denied the charge.

The tumult marked the third time since 2005 that a president and his government had been ousted by protests.

In the ensuing power vacuum, Japarov became prime minister and was then voted in by lawmakers as acting president.

In a series of maneuverers that have raised questions over their legality, he used the old parliament to rush through motions for the referendum on a presidential system.

A second referendum will need to be conducted, tentatively in March, to vote on a new draft constitution.

Critics, including Human Rights Watch and legal experts, say Kyrgyzstan’s caretaker parliament did not have the legitimacy to initiate far-reaching constitutional amendments because its term had expired. It’s still not clear when new parliamentary elections will be held.

Meanwhile, in order to skirt a law prohibiting him from running in the presidential vote, Japarov quit both posts in November. Still, his critics say that his campaign has benefited from the resources of the state with his allies occupying key government posts.

Japarov and his supporters have pushed for the referendum saying the country needs the change to strengthen the role of the president by handing the post extensive legislative and executive powers similar to those in other neighboring Central Asian countries.

Those powers, critics point out, are often abused in the region and they fear the same will happen in Kyrgyzstan if the referendum is successful and Japarov wins the vote.

“To maximize his power, he will strive to establish a modern authoritarian police state,” Bakyt Beshimov, a professor at the Global Studies and International Relations at Northeastern University in Boston, commented on Twitter.

Voters will cast their ballots in 2,470 polling stations across the country, while nearly 50 stations will also open in several Russian regions that host hundreds of thousands of Kyrgyz migrant workers.

Election officials said that more than 300 international observers have been accredited to monitor the election process.

With reporting by AFP and TASS.