Allies of Kyrgyzstan's strongman president sweep snap parliamentary election

By Felix Light

BISHKEK, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Allies of Kyrgyzstan’s President Sadyr Japarov swept the board in a snap parliamentary election on Sunday, preliminary results showed, cementing his increasingly tight control of politics in what had long been Central Asia’s most democratic state.

According to the central electoral commission, preliminary results showed Japarov's allies winning all but a handful of seats. The bulk of candidates were independents loyal to Japarov, who has sidelined Kyrgyzstan's political parties and clamped down on opposition since coming to power in 2020.

The results clear the way for Japarov, a populist and nationalist who has presided over rapid economic growth as well as a crackdown on political dissent and media freedoms, to seek a second six-year term in a presidential election due in 2027.

Casting his ballot in the capital Bishkek on Sunday, Japarov told reporters the election would be largely without violations, and contrasted it with votes held under his predecessors, which he said had been marked by rigging.

He added that his government would ensure that the next presidential election was also transparent.

JAPAROV HAS CLAMPED DOWN ON DISSENT, OPPOSITION

After winning independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, Kyrgyzstan’s lively political scene made it an exception in otherwise authoritarian Central Asia. Mass protests over allegations of election rigging ousted Kyrgyz leaders in 2005, 2010 and 2020, while Kyrgyz media was the region’s freest.

But Japarov, who was swept to power by the 2020 protests, has proclaimed a radical break with the past, clamping down on dissent, with opposition politicians detained for allegedly plotting unrest, and sweeping restrictions on media introduced.

Deputy prime minister Edil Baisalov, a Japarov ally, told Reuters on Friday that parliamentary democracy had failed in Kyrgyzstan, having delivered neither economic growth nor political stability.

"We thought that we would adopt a Westminster-style parliamentary system and that we would live like Western countries. But it did not work and it will not work," he said.

Japarov has taken credit for strong economic growth, with a major construction boom in Bishkek, even as high inflation and mounting electricity shortages have hit living standards.

Economic experts say the growth is partly the result of Kyrgyzstan becoming a top clearinghouse for trade with close ally Russia redirected by Western sanctions over the war in Ukraine. Kyrgyzstan is in a customs union with Russia.

Western countries have sanctioned several Kyrgyz banks and cryptocurrency companies, accusing them of facilitating illicit trade with Russia.

(Reporting by Felix Light and Aigerim TurgunbaevaEditing by Tomasz Janowski and Gareth Jones)