The electoral campaign for the October 10 parliamentary election in Kyrgyzstan proved highly competitive. Twenty-nine political parties ran for the national parliament, and according to local experts, for the first time had equal opportunities for reaching out to the electorate. The country never experienced such a dynamic electoral campaign in its history. However, despite the level playing field and the more or less civilized campaigns that political parties reportedly conducted, a number of events and incidents related to the campaign made the political struggle more complicated and aggressive, and perhaps even posed a threat to the conduct of the election itself.
Experts claim that there are two reasons for the “electoral craze” that surrounded the parliamentary elections. Firstly, as a result of the Constitutional referendum held in July, Kyrgyzstan is transitioning to parliamentary system of government, conferring powers to the legislative branch that will form a cabinet of ministers. Secondly, political forces in the country had a clear understanding of the opportunity presented by the elections in a more open political environment. So far, the interim government led by President Roza Otunbaeva succeeded in providing equal rights for all parties in the elections.
In its midterm report on the campaign, the ODIHR Observation Mission noted progress toward a democratic campaign period, but also noted some minor problems, such as the lack of specialists in election conduct. The pre-election campaign was commended for being held without serious violations, according to the ODIHR Mission Representative Jens-Hagen Eschenbacher, who said the campaign was very competitive because all parties had equal opportunities to communicate their agendas to the electorate.
Numerous independent non-governmental organizations, both international and domestic, affirmed the ODIHR statement, saying that the authorities succeeded in ensuring fair competition among all political forces. At the same time, they also claimed that competing parties themselves were violating the rules by practicing “old methods”, such as buying votes and discrediting opponents in unethical ways.
The government’s outspoken commitment to the “free and fair elections” principle did not provide a guarantee for smooth and calm elections. The campaign was accompanied by numerous scandals and incidents, which threatened to derail the elections. On October 8, the headquarters of the leading opposition party, “Ata Jurt,” was attacked. Approximately 100 protesters burst into the party office and threw the party’s campaign materials out the window of the building, then burned them outside. The protesters claimed to be relatives and family members of those who were shot by the police and security services during the April 7 events and came to the party office to demand an explanation for party leader Kamchybek Tashiev’s statement that the party, if elected, would bring back former President Kurmanbek Bakiyev. Tashiev denied the statement, which was caught on video during a meeting with voters in southern Kyrgyzstan, saying that the footage was fabricated and that he considered the attack an attempt to disrupt the upcoming elections.
One day later, on October 9, unknown men burned the campaign posters of one of the opposition parties, “Butun Kyrgyzstan”, in the region of Talas. The party officials blamed pro-governmental parties for the incident.
Despite these worrisome incidents, the authorities remained firm on conducting the elections. During her meeting with the heads of diplomatic missions in Kyrgyzstan, President Otunbaeva stated that there is no reason to cancel or postpone the parliamentary elections, saying that “we are confident that the elections will be held and will be successful”.
Otunbaeva claimed that the authorities would take unprecedented security measures in case of unrest on Election Day, with additional police patrolling beginning on October 7. Interior Minister Zarylbek Rysaliev stated that 7,000 policemen and 13,000 citizen volunteers would be maintaining public order on Election Day, and that taxi drivers and private security companies would help the police ensure order.
The parliamentary elections in Kyrgyzstan also attracted a great deal of interest from the international community and, allegedly, attempts from some states to influence the outcome of the elections. Meetings of some opposition political party leaders with the leaders of Russia and Kazakhstan, and the airing of discrediting evidence against leaders of other parties in Russian and Kazakh mass media, were considered attempts to interfere in the internal affairs of Kyrgyzstan, stated local political expert Mars Sariev: “Russia is attempting to influence the campaign by supporting pro-Russian parties and using mass media against other forces.” Russian President Dmitriy Medvedev was also reported to say in a meeting with foreign political experts on September 10 that parliamentarism in Kyrgyzstan will lead to disaster.
President Otunbaeva considered foreign mass media involvement and the statements of foreign leaders as unacceptable. “There are many who want to dictate which way Kyrgyzstan should go, but Kyrgyzstan is a sovereign country and no one can interfere in domestic issues”, she stated at a ceremony dedicated to the Day of Teachers on October 8.