According to republican president Askar Akayev, the 2005 election campaign differs very much from that of the year 2000. "The people are well prepared, they know the election code and constitutional norms perfectly. They approach their candidates with totally different criteria," said the Kyrgyz president.
In many respects it is connected with the fact that after the elections of the new composition of the parliament, Kyrgyzstan will switch over, in line with the constitution, to a new form of social structure: from the presidential form of government to the presidential-parliamentary polity.
The new single-mandate parliament elected by majority system will possess much wider authorities than the legislative branch of power has ever possessed in the republic.
Parliament will address most personnel issues, which were earlier dealt with by the president - from appointment of Cabinet members to district judges. By two thirds of votes the deputies will be able, in particular, to dismiss the government, introduce amendments to the constitution, and initiate the president's resignation.
The first clash between the power and the opposition took place in the process of candidates' registration. The Kyrgyz central election commission, being guided by the election code's article on the five-year residential qualification, denied registration to six former ambassadors of the republic. On January 7, former diplomats took their supporters with yellow accessories to the streets and set up pickets and tents in front of parliament's building. But the population did not respond to the opposition's appeal. The tents stood for one more day and were taken away.
However, these events attracted close attention to the republic on the part of the world community. 15,000 local observers, 20 different international organizations, 208 international observers from the OSCE and 218 representatives from the CIS expressed their wish to monitor the elections. For the first time in history, China also took part in this process. The country sent observers from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
In the opinion of the leader of the opposition coalition For Democracy and Civil Society, Edil Baisalov, there were campaigns by parliamentary candidates to bribe the voters in each of the 75 constituencies.
"On the average, the cost of one election vote is assessed at 200 soms to $100 depending on the constituency," said Baisalov.
Supporters of candidates deprived of registration by court organized mass protest rallies in the Naryn, Issyk-Kul, and Jalalabad regions of the republic. According to the central election commission data, 390 candidates want to get deputy mandates by the end of election campaign completion, that is some 6 candidates for one seat. Out of 42 registered parties, only 14 nominated their candidates. Two of them, Alga Kyrgyzstan and Adilet are represented by some 20 people each. Others nominated 2-3 candidates each.
The second round of elections is due on March 13.
