Constitutional referendum in Kyrgyzstan (2007)

In response to the recognition by the Constitutional Court of invalid amendments to the Constitution, adopted in 2006 following the results of the Tulip Revolution , President Kurmanbek Bakiyev called a referendum on these amendments on September 19, 2007 . ^{[4] [5]} . The amendments to the referendum provided for the following:

• an increase in the number of deputies of the Jogorku Kenesh from 75 to 90, their election under the proportional system ^[3] ;
• depriving members of political parties whose activities are recognized as illegal from seats in the Parliament; ^[3]
• giving the president the right to appoint and remove the government, civil servants, members of the Security Council, judges, prosecutors, leaders of the National Bank and members of the election commission; depriving him of the right to dissolve the Jogorku Kenesh ^[3] .

The new electoral legislation provided that political parties must overcome the 5% barrier to enter the parliament. It was also found that in party lists at least 30% of the seats should be given to women, at least 15% of the seats - to candidates under the age of 35, and at least 15% of the seats - to candidates from national minorities ^{[2] [5]} .

Observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) reported numerous irregularities during the voting, in particular, obstacles imposed by government observers and ballot stuffing . According to the OSCE, the turnout in the referendum was low. Representatives of the US Embassy also expressed concern about the referendum, saying that the vote did not meet international standards ^[6] .

Constitution

Do you agree with the new version of the Constitution?

Election legislation

Do you agree with the new version of the electoral law submitted by the President for a referendum?

Analysts assumed that if the referendum was successful, Bakiyev would call early parliamentary elections for 2008 ^[5] . As a result, after the announcement of preliminary results, which indicated that more than 75% of the referendum participants (with a turnout of 80%) approved the proposed amendments, the Kyrgyz leader called early elections for December 2007 ^[7] .