At stake in this election:

• The office of President of Kyrgyzstan

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Roza OTUNBAYEVA *
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Omurbek BABANOV (BABANOV is Acting Prime Minister)
• 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

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 threshold for gaining representation. Parties are capped at 65 seats total.

** After the February 27th elections, the parliament will become a unicameral body with 75 seats.

Main Candidates in the Presidential race:

• Almazbek Sharshenovich ATAMBAYEV
  • Party: Social Democratic Party of Kyrgyzstan (SDPK) / Кыргызстан социал-дeмoкратиялык пaртиясы
• Kamchybek TASHIYEV
  • Party: Fatherland / Ata-Zhurt / Ата-журт
• Adakhan MADUMAROV
  • Party: United Kyrgyzstan / Butun Kyrgyzstan
• Omurbek SUVANALIEV
  • Independent(s): N/A
• Temirbek ASANBEKOV
  • Party: Meken Yntymagy

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 5,514,600 (2011)
• Registered Voters: 3,034,084 (October 2011 )

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 2,794,157 (2011)

·         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: No

·         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: 827,190 (est.)