At stake in this election:

• The office of President of Kyrgyzstan

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Kurmanbek BAKIEV *
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Kurmanbek BAKIEV
• Assembly: Kyrgyzstan has a unicameral Parliament (Jorgorku Kenesh) with 75 seats.

* Acting president since 24 March 2005; former President Askar AKAYEV resigned effective April 11, 2005 following a series of widespread protests that forced him to flee the country on 24 March 2005.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by popular vote to serve a 5-year term.
• In the Parliament (Jorgorku Kenesh) 75 members are elected .***

*** Elections for the new unicameral body or Jorgorku Kenesh were held 27 February 2005, but the vast majority of positions remained undecided and were to be contested in a runoff election scheduled for 13 March 2005; election irregularities caused widespread protests that resulted in the president being forced to flee the country; new legislative elections have not yet been rescheduled.

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

Main Candidates in the Presidential race:

• Kurmanbek BAKIEV
  • Party: N/A
• Tursunbay BAKIR UULU
  • Party: (ErK)
• Akbaraly AITIKEYEV
  • Party: N/A
• Jypar JEKSHEYEV
  • Party: N/A
• Toktayym UMETALIYEVA
  • Party: N/A
• Keneshbek DUYSHEBAYEV
  • Party: N/A

Last Presidential election:

• The last election was held on October 29, 2000. Askar AKAYEV was reelected president with 74 percent of the vote.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 5,162,600 (2005)
• Registered Voters: 2,670,530 (July 2005)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 2,609,142 (2005)

·         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: 0 (following the 2005 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: 774,390 (est.)