Home » Regions » Europe & Eurasia » Kyrgyzstan

IFES - Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyzstan

The popular protests of March 2005 rearranged the political landscape of the Kyrgyz Republic. President Askar Akaev, who had initially appeared to be a liberal reformer, was forced from office under allegations of interfering with parliament and governmental corruption. President Kurmanbek Bakiev was elected shortly thereafter, but given the sheer rapidity of the March events, real political change was limited, and serious impediments to democratization remain. What would help remove these impediments is a long-term approach that makes use of the time between elections to effect more general reform of the electoral process.

IFES has worked in Kyrgyzstan since 1994, managing projects in civil society development, civic education, technical election assistance, and political party development. In 1995, 1996, and 2001, IFES conducted national public opinion polls designed to gauge perceptions of democracy and the future of the country. This data has proven integral to the development of IFES’ ongoing programmatic strategy.

Current Projects

Professional Electoral Administration and Confidence-Building

In partnership with the Central Election Commission (CEC), IFES is currently involved in rigorous training of election commission officials. The Training Center, which IFES helped formally establish earlier this year, will conduct regular training of new and returning election officials at the national, district, and precinct levels.

One objective of the Center is to diversify the composition of the election commissions by including more party members.  To reach that goal, Center materials are made available to the parties and NGOs who wish to train their members to be potential election commission members. In addition, the Center houses a library and a reference center, available to students and scholars. 

IFES also helps other participants in the electoral process to better understand electoral legislation. In partnership with the Supreme Court's Training Center, IFES will help organize training for judges on electoral legislation for the first time.

Helping Kyrgyzstan Build its Electoral Infrastructure

IFES has long worked with Kyrgyzstan’s election commissions (at the national and local levels). We recently opened an Election Support Center to give election officials access to a range of hard copy and electronic resources about how to better conduct free and fair elections.

Past Projects in Kyrgyzstan »