According to the president, certain shortcomings were revealed in the last elections, including in terms of voter turnout. “We aimed to make the elections as open and transparent as possible by introducing innovations such as electronic and remote voting. Nevertheless, the turnout was low. Although compared to previous elections, this time 200,000 more people voted, we expected that the conditions created would increase voter activity and lead to a 70% turnout. Unfortunately, this did not happen,” he noted.
In light of the situation, the president addressed the issue of possible measures that could be introduced to increase turnout. He expressed the need for a new bill that could facilitate this. “Those who sell their votes always participate in elections, while other citizens are either indifferent or do not understand the importance of participating in elections. We must address this problem,” Japarov added.
He also urged representatives of the people to consider the initiative to create such a law. “In a number of countries, participation in elections is mandatory. For example, in Turkey, this has helped increase turnout, and in Singapore, citizens are required to participate in voting, otherwise they lose their voting rights in the next elections. We should rely on successful international practices, adapting them to the mentality of our people,” the president emphasized.
Addressing the newly elected deputies, Sadyr Japarov noted that with the new system, political corruption should become a thing of the past. “We will continue our unwavering fight against corruption together with you,” he added.
According to the Central Election Commission (CEC), in the early elections for deputies of the Jogorku Kenesh, 1 million 584 thousand 446 voters out of 4 million 294 thousand 243 cast their votes, which amounted to 36.90%. Compared to the 2021 elections, the number of voters increased by 351 thousand 873, corresponding to a growth of 28.6% (in 2021, 1 million 232 thousand 573 people voted).
