Building of the Constitutional Court of Kyrgyzstan. Photo: sputnik.kg.
Constitutional Court of Kyrgyzstan has ruled that the next presidential election in Kyrgyzstan is to be held on the fourth Sunday of January 2027. The decision followed a Feb. 17 request from the incumbent president, Sadyr Japarov, the court’s press service reported.
The court examined the length of Japarov’s term in office. He was elected under the 2010 Constitution and took office on Jan. 28, 2021, for a six-year term. The revised 2021 Constitution introduced a five-year presidential term and a limit of two terms in office. Under the 2010 Constitution, the president was elected for six years and the same person could not be elected twice.
The court concluded that the five-year term set out in Article 67 of the 2021 Constitution does not apply to a presidential mandate that began under the previous constitution.
The current term must therefore be completed in its originally established six-year duration, and this six-year period counts as the first term under the two-term limit.
The court based its reasoning on the principle of legal continuity. It said the president’s electoral mandate reflects the direct exercise of constituent power by the people. Any interpretation that would shorten an already active mandate on the basis of the 2021 Constitution would amount to a retroactive change in the “rules of the game,” which it said is impermissible.
On the issue of early elections, the court stressed that they are possible only on the grounds exhaustively listed in Part 1 of Article 72 of the 2021 Constitution: voluntary resignation, removal from office in accordance with established procedure, inability to perform duties due to illness, or the president’s death.
On this basis, the court ruled that the next regular presidential election must be held on Jan. 24, 2027. Jogorku Kenesh must call the election no later than four months before voting day — that is, by Sept. 24, 2026.
Japarov’s request to the court came two days after an open letter to the president and the parliamentary speaker calling for the prompt initiation of new presidential elections. The letter was signed by 75 people, including former prime ministers, scholars, former deputies, and public figures. They argued that the adoption of the new constitution in 2021 created legal uncertainty over the term of the sitting president, who had been elected under the previous rules, and said early elections would help avoid disputes and conflicting interpretations.
For his part, Japarov asked the court to provide an official interpretation of several constitutional provisions concerning the procedure and timing of regular and early presidential elections.
