Final week, Kyrgyzstan’s parliament, the Zhogorku Kenesh, formally set a date for the following presidential election: January 27, 2027. The nation’s Central Election Fee (CEC) then opened the door for formal nominations.
Up to now, incumbent President Sadyr Japarov and Omurbek Suvanaliev – a politician and former minister of inside affairs – have introduced their intentions to run.
In August, Japarov introduced that he would search a second time period, one thing his political surrogates have been floating for a while. Japarov was elected, formally, in January 2021 after rising from literal jail to energy amid the October 2020 unrest. On the time, Kyrgyzstan’s structure mandated a single six-year presidential time period. A referendum that happened concurrently the presidential election in 2021 ushered in what critics referred to as the “Khanstitution,” which supplies for 2 five-year phrases for the presidency.
In February 2026, Kyrgyzstan’s Constitutional Court docket clarified that Japarov’s present time period does rely as his first.
Japarov confirmed his ambition to hunt a second time period in an interview wherein he additionally revealed that he’d initially deliberate for his former ally and former head of Kyrgyzstan’s State Committee for Nationwide Safety, Kamchybek Tashiev, to ascend to the presidency. Japarov claimed he’d instructed Tashiev, “Be ready, cleanse your circle, educate your individuals… Then I see: he’s not prepared.”
Tashiev was convicted of a coup try in July, however spared a jail sentence. Prosecutors sought a harsher punishment on attraction solely to have the expenses reclassified and the sentence lessened additional in September. He lengthy denied any ambition to run for president. A month earlier than his abrupt February dismissal, Tashiev responded to mounting rumors that he would search the presidency by saying, “Many have tried and proceed to attempt to sow discord between us, claiming that I aspire to the presidency. However this isn’t true… I don’t intend to overthrow Sadyr Nurgoyevich [Japarov]… On this life, solely dying can separate us.”
Beneath the Kyrgyz Structure, any citizen who’s not less than 35 years outdated, speaks the state language (Kyrgyz), and has lived within the nation for not less than 15 years is eligible to run for president. Potential candidates should collect not less than 30,000 signatures and pay a nonrefundable price of 1 million som (round $11,400). People can nominate themselves or be nominated by a celebration. Beneath 2025 laws, people with legal information are barred from working for president.
Suvanaliev introduced his presidential ambition in a September 24 interview with RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service, Azattyk. Suvanaliev served as minister of inside affairs from 2006-2007 beneath the Kurmanbek Bakiyev administration, then as governor of Naryn from 2008-2009, amongst different positions over time, a lot of which seem to have been associated to safety and regulation enforcement. Extra just lately, in 2019 then-President Sooronbay Jeenbekov appointed Suvanaliev a deputy secretary within the Safety Council, a place he was dismissed from in October 2020 because the Jeenbekov administration collapsed within the face of protests. Till Could 2021, he was serving as a consultant of the federal government in Batken area.
In 2011, Suvanaliev contested for the presidency as an unbiased candidate. He recorded simply over 16,000 votes, or 0.89 %, in an election that Almazbek Atambayev gained with 63.83 %.
Based on Azattyk, Suvanaliev positioned himself as opposition. He mentioned he believes {that a} candidate who can problem the incumbent president ought to run within the elections.
Japarov mentioned in his August interview that the door was open for anybody to run towards him: “Anybody who desires to run for workplace can accomplish that. As they are saying, go forward. We gained’t prohibit anybody. The elections can be clear, and there can be no obstacles for rivals.”
Within the nation’s most up-to-date election, a snap parliamentary ballot held in November 2025, Japarov’s allies did notably nicely amid a political ambiance that observers known as “stifled” or lifeless.
Because the presidential election approaches – and candidates step ahead – the proof can be on the poll and within the aftermath.
