Kyrgyzstan

Key Takeaways: Cost of Politics

Population: 6.6 million
Head of Government: President Sadyr Japarov
Ruling party/coalition: Social Democratic Party
Last election: 2020
Next election: 2025
Registered voters: 1.39 million (2020)
Annual salary of member of legislature: KGS889,685 (US$10,490)
Year of study: 2015

In the 2015 election 14 parties paid the required KGS5 million (US$74,000) to participate in the election. The fee was increased fivefold from previous elections.

US$74,000

The 2015 poll was one of the most expensive parliamentary elections ever in the history of the country.

2015

The Public Television-Radio Company - commonly known as OTRK, Obschestvennaya Tele-Radio Kompaniya - earned over KGS 90 million (US$1.25 million) from parties’ campaign funds.

US$1.25M

The funds of each candidate of a political party are the main sources of financing the election campaign of a political party. This situation does not allow individuals to run for office who do not have large financial and administrative resources.

Almost all the respondents noted that very often the wealthier MPs, on an ongoing basis, provide financial assistance or carry out charity to needy people mainly from their region or polling station when in office.

In 2015, the cost of one of the votes was assessed to be KGS2,000-6,000 (US$25-80) depending on the region.

US$25-80

2015

The increasing number of ongoing cultural and recreational activities in the districts and increased amounts required to bribe voters are key drivers of the cost of politics.

Key Findings

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Context

Kyrgyzstan is a 120-seat parliamentary democracy in which no one party dominates, and where parties based on ethnicity or religion are banned.
Most political parties are based around the personality of a leader rather than a long-term identity based on policies.

Drivers of the cost of politics

With Kyrgyzstan’s political parties agreeing to overlook each other’s misdemeanors, and the public afraid to speak out, bribery and corruption continue to be endemic. Every time after elections, dozens of anonymous public sector workers – teachers, doctors and other professionals – report infringements of election campaign regulations and pressure on voters to voluntary sector organisations, journalists and even the political parties themselves. However, non-governmental organisations complain, that people are afraid to report this officially, to the police or the election management body or to put their names to their complaints.
The practice of “seat buying” is widely recognised within the parliament and often seen as a fundraising method for the party. Campaign finance reports have shown that significant portions of some parties’ funds are raised from personal donations from candidates. While not explicitly illegal under current campaign finance law, the practice does raise significant questions about the place of private money and business in Kyrgyz politics.
The limited coverage of the campaign by most independent media outlets in their news and current affairs programmes, as well as a lack of investigative and analytical reporting, significantly reduces the amount of impartial information available to voters.
While the law requires parties to submit their final financial reports within ten days of the election, there are no repercussions for parties who do not submit.

Conclusions and Recommendations

Without a party or candidate disclosing expenditures, spending limits cannot be monitored or enforced, and without the names of the vendors who were paid by the campaign funds, spending cannot not be audited and verified. Effective public disclosure requires that candidates and parties report in detail on receipts and expenditures and that campaign and party funding reports are provided to the public in a timely manner.
A draft law on political parties could be considered as a good example to regulate disclosure principles. An existing law on political parties was adopted in 1999, but needs amending.
Openness is the antidote to the influence of big money, and to the secrecy that enables illicit funding or unsavoury donations. Focused attention on civic education is a key part of this.

Read the brief (English)

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