OSCE/ODIHR final report on Kyrgyzstan presidential election encourages authorities, political parties to continue with inclusive electoral reform, ensure equal opportunities for all candidates
The final report by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on the 15 October 2017 presidential election in Kyrgyzstan recommends steps to address shortcomings in the legal framework, strengthen safeguards against the misuse of public resources, and ensure that candidates can compete on an equal footing.
While noting that the election was competitive and candidates could, in general, campaign freely, the report, published on 8 March 2018, points to cases of pressure on voters, vote-buying and the misuse of public resources. It recommends that the law clearly prohibits such practices and provides effective sanctions for violations. To this end, the report recommends that the authorities create a dedicated inter-institutional task force to address the issue.
The report acknowledges that election day proceeded in an orderly manner, but encourages the authorities to guarantee the right to a free and secret choice and to prevent any form of pressure on voters to disclose their votes. It also calls for the lifting of the recently imposed limitations on civil society organizations that impede their election observation activities.
The report raises concerns related to self-censorship among journalists and limited coverage of the campaign in the news. It notes, however, the contribution of public debates to greater pluralism during the campaign. It recommends that undue privileges granted to the president in defamation cases be abolished and calls for a revision of the legal definitions of incitement to ethnic, racial, religious or interregional hatred, to avoid disproportional limitations of the freedom of expression.
The report also calls for greater transparency of campaign finance and for the introduction of reasonable spending limits and effective sanctions for violating campaign finance rules, so as to ensure a level playing field for candidates.
The report highlights the lack of sufficient follow-up to previous ODIHR election-related assessments and recommends that electoral reform be timely and inclusive. Other recommendations include the removal of all restrictions on suffrage rights of persons with mental disabilities, further efforts to encourage and facilitate biometric registration of all eligible voters, facilitation of women’s participation in elections and simplification of procedures for collecting and verifying candidate support signatures.
The final report follows the statement of preliminary findings and conclusions issued by ODIHR together with the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.