cover image: KYRGYZ REPUBLIC - EARLY PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION AND REFERENDUM 10 January 2021

20.500.12592/7t8276

KYRGYZ REPUBLIC - EARLY PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION AND REFERENDUM 10 January 2021

9 Jun 2021

The Statement of Preliminary Findings and Conclusions issued by the IEOM on 11 January concluded that the election and referendum “were held against the backdrop of a political crisis that unfolded following the annulment of the October 2020 parliamentary elections. [...] However, the CEC limited the free-media time, calculating the number of hours from the moment of their distribution, rather than from the appointment of the referendum (see Media). [...] Seven nominees appealed to the CEC, expressing their concerns regarding the shortened timeframe for the collection of signatures.44 Prospective candidates could only start the collection of signatures after opening an electoral fund and the payment of the production of the signature sheets. [...] In general, the campaigns lacked genuine public discussion of specific policy proposals in the election campaign, and did not provide for a genuine debate about the meaning and the consequences of the different options in the referendum. [...] The lack of clarity regarding the rights and obligations of media outlets during two overlapping campaigns, in the absence of official clarification from the CEC, created further confusion among the media, especially in the regions.80 A large number of national and local media outlets informed the ODIHR LEOM about their decision to limit the scope of the editorial coverage in order to avoid sancti.

Authors

Alexey Gromov

Pages
32
Published in
Austria