Kyrgyzstan local council election results expected today
The results of local council elections across Kyrgyzstan will be announced today, the latest in a series of key elections for the country.
Today’s results will cover 420 village council elections and 28 municipal elections, including Kyrgyzstan’s two largest cities. Today’s results follow the January presidential election, which saw Sadyr Japarov elected to fill the space left by former President Sooronbay Jeenbekov’s resignation.
The most significant upcoming result is likely to be that of Kyrgyzstan’s constitutional referendum. The results – expected by no later than May 16 – could allow President Japarov to appoint members of the government and judiciary without parliamentary support, among other measures.
Given recent polling, expect voters to approve of the referendum measures, despite vocal criticism from prominent members of Kyrgyz society, including former President Rosa Otunbaeva, that the amendments will foster a new era of authoritarianism. Expect the approval of these amendments to upend Kyrgyzstan’s upcoming parliamentary elections, as one of the proposed amendments reduces the size of the Supreme Council from 120 members to 90. This reduction, combined with the reduced government oversight afforded by the other amendments, will likely both frustrate Kyrgyz parliamentarians and increase anti-Japarov sentiment within parliament.
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