At stake in this election:

• 120 seats in the Supreme Council (Jorgorku Kenesh)

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Roza OTUNBAYEVA *
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Roza OTUNBAYEVA
• Assembly: Kyrgyzstan has a unicameral Supreme Council (Jorgorku Kenesh) with 120 seats.

* OTUNBAYEVA became acting president following the early April 2010 riots that overthrew President Kurmanbek BAKIEV. According to the constitutional referendum that passed in June 2010, she will remain president through 2011.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by absolute majority vote through a two-round system to serve a 5-year term.
• The Prime Minister is nominated by parliament to serve a 5-year term.**
• In the Supreme Council (Jorgorku Kenesh) 120 members are elected through a closed-list proportional representation system to serve 5-year terms.***

** The prime minister is nominated by the parliamentary party which holds more than 50% of the seats. The nomination must then be approved by the president. If no party holds more than 50% of seats, the president may select the party that will nominate a prime minister.

*** There is a five percent national threshold and 0.5% regional threshold for gaining representation. Parties are capped at 65 seats total.

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Party: Fatherland / Ata Meken Socialist Party
  • Leader: Omurbek TEKEBAYEV
• Party: Social-Democratic Party of Kyrgyzstan (SDPK)
  • Leader: Almazbek ATAMBAYEV
• Party: Respublika
  • Leader: Omurbek BABANOV
• Party: Ata-Jurt
  • Leader: Kamchybek TASHIEV and Nariman TULEEV
• Party: Dignity Party / Ar-Namys Party
  • Leader: Felix Sharshenbayevich KULOV
• Party: Ak-Shumkar
  • Leader: Temirbek SARIYEV
• Party: Butun Kyrgyzstan / Alga
  • Leader: Adahan MADUMAROV
• Party: Party “Zamandash”
  • Leader: Muhtarbek OMURAKUNOV
• Party: Others
  • Leader: N/A

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 5,431,747 (July 2010 est.)
• Registered Voters: 2,753,727 (December 2007 )

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 2,761,392 (2010)

·         Is Kyrgyzstan a signatory to CEDAW: N/A

·         Has Kyrgyzstan ratified CEDAW: Yes, accession (10 February 1997)

·         Gender Quota: Yes

·         Female candidates in this election: Yes

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 28 (following the 2010 elections)

·         Human Development Index Position: 120 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Medium (2014)

Disability Data:

·         Is Kyrgyzstan a signatory to CRPD: Yes (21 September 2011)

·         Has Kyrgyzstan ratified CRPD: No

·         Population with a disability: 814,762 (est.)