According to the lawyer, although the Constitution explicitly states a five-year term for the president, during the preparation for the constitutional reform and within the framework of the Law of the Kyrgyz Republic dated March 12, 2021, No. 31 "On the Appointment of a Referendum on the Draft Law "On the Constitution," there was an understanding that the president elected in 2021 could exercise his powers for a six-year period.
The appeal also points to the uncertainty caused by the second part of Article 69, which states that the president's powers cease upon the appointment of a new head of state. In the absence of a clear understanding of the presidential mandate's duration, there is ambiguity regarding the dates of the next elections, which could affect the stability of the electoral process.
Ergeshbaeva emphasizes the sequence of events in 2021: the presidential elections took place on January 10, the constitutional innovations were approved in a referendum on April 11, and came into force on May 5. Thus, the president was elected under one version of the Constitution, while the exercise of his powers continued under another version, which does not clarify how the term of the mandate should be recalculated.
In her petition, the lawyer highlights that such legal uncertainty could affect the foundations of the constitutional order, the principles of popular sovereignty and the supremacy of the Constitution, as well as impact the realization of citizens' electoral rights.
She calls on the Constitutional Court to provide an official clarification on the specified norms, establish the starting point for the president's term, and clarify the possibility of changing the duration of the presidential mandate in the context of transitional legal regulation.
At present, the document has been accepted by the Constitutional Court, but there is no response regarding the possibility of its consideration yet.
Deputies of the VII convocation of the Jogorku Kenesh have approved a law to schedule presidential elections for January 24, 2027. Nevertheless, the possibility of holding early elections is increasingly being discussed in society. In this context, an open letter has emerged from 75 politicians, both former and current, as well as representatives from culture and healthcare, proposing to hold early elections. The presidential administration has not yet provided comments on this appeal.
