At stake in this Referendum:

• Adoption of a new constitution that re-defines the president-parliament relationship and places limits on dominance by a single strong political party or leader.

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Roza OTUNBAYEVA *
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Daniyar USENOV **
• Assembly: Kyrgyzstan has a unicameral Supreme Council (Jorgorku Kenesh) with 90 seats. ***

* OTUNBAYEVA became acting president following the early April 2010 riots that overthrew President Kurmanbek BAKIEV

** 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.

*** The electoral system is closed list PR. Parties must clear a threshold of 5 percent of registered voters nationwide. They must also clear a second threshold of 0.5 percent of all registered voters in each of the country's seven regions, plus the cities Bishkek and Osh. The Jogorku Kenesh elected in 2008 was disbanded following the April 2010 events.

Main provisions in the Referendum:

• A vote to ratify a new constitution restoring powers to parliament. The draft constitution will convey stronger powers to parliament resulting in a weakened presidency. It will raise the number of seats in parliament from 90 to 105 or 120, and cap the maximum number of seats any party can secure in parliament.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 5,447,900 (2010)
• Registered Voters: 2,766,806 (June 2010)

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: N/A

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 23 (following the 2007 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: 817,185 (est.)