Kyrgyzstan's family elections

Fathers and sons, brothers and sisters, mothers and daughters, not to mention broader levels of kinship and friendship, make Žogorku Keneš - the local parliament that will be renewed in the 17 November vote - a big family. With almost forty parties that are all more or less pro-government.

Biškek (AsiaNews) - Kyrgyzstan is also preparing for parliamentary elections to renew the composition of Žogorku Keneš, on November 17. There are many well-known surnames on the lists, but not so much of outgoing MPs as of their children and relatives of various degrees, renewing the ‘family’ tradition of Central Asian politics.

The parties are however very numerous, as many as 39, of which the most active is Yntymak, the social-conservative and pro-government party that occupies a minority seat in parliament, and has presented candidates in 32 cities.

In Biškek, Nargiza Žoldošbaeva, former MP and daughter of former MP Kamčybek, and her younger brother Taalajbek Sariev are standing for Yntymak. Nargiza had lost her seat in April, when she was arrested for not paying taxes, and it is not known when she was released and under what conditions she was allowed to stand again.

The party is also presenting Žibek Šarapova, Zakira's daughter, a former member of parliament together with Kamčybek Žoldošbaev, in the municipal elections, and who had stood for another party, Ata Meken, in 2020. Also running alongside her is Marat Askerov, son of current MP Gulkan Moldobekova and former trade union leader Mirbek Asanakunov.

Another well-known surname is that of MP Marlen Mamataliev, son of government member Abdyrakhman, who assures that ‘our Yntymak party wants to be a novelty in the national political landscape’, continuing to support President Sadyr Žaparov and his policies, but also ‘showing its limits when necessary’.

Another party with an ecological tendency that is presenting itself for the first time is Žany Kuč, the ‘New Force’ that Kyrgyzstan needs according to its founders, who took this initiative last spring to compose a team of ‘young and dynamic candidates’.

Leading the group is Kubanyčbek Kongantiev, the son of the former prosecutor-general Kambaraly, who had already presided over Žogorku Keneš for other factions in the last legislature.

The ‘new forces’ also include Ajgul Tokombaeva, daughter of former deputy Damira Nijazalieva and herself already elected under another banner in the last elections, and Nurilja Čolponbaeva, daughter of former parliamentary speaker Mukar, who was not elected last time.

Ajdar, the son of the mayor of Biškek, Aziz Surakmatov, is also on the list of ‘new forces’; his father became mayor after his parliamentary experience, and his son aims to repeat the same career. Also surprising is the presence of Žanybek Abirov, who had resigned his parliamentary mandate after a clamorous brawl in the courtroom.

Another ‘son of art’ is 33-year-old Alymbek Baktybekov, a two-time MP, whose father Bakyt Sydykov is the leader of another party, Ata-Žurt Kyrgyzstan, and whose grandfather Usen was head of the presidential administration in the early 2000s and founder of the ‘New Kyrgyzstan’ party. The current head of the party is Asylbek Maktemirov, brother of Ata-Žurt MP Ajbek, who is running for the Džalal-Abad seat.

The list would still be long, limiting only to fathers and sons, brothers and sisters, mothers and daughters, not to mention the wider levels of kinship and friendship that make Žogorku Keneš a big family.

President Žaparov urged all citizens of Kyrgyzstan to take an active part in the elections, both for the national parliament and local government, assuring them that ‘the authorities do not intend to interfere in the election campaign in any way’, as ‘the times when the powers that be supported candidates favourable to them have passed’.

The chairman of the Gknb Security Committee, Kamčybek Tašiev, also stated that ‘the government party does not present itself in the elections’, although in fact the almost forty parties are all more or less pro-government, and furthermore very closely related to all power structures in Kyrgyzstan.