On February 17, 2026, the Constitutional Court considered a request from the president regarding the official interpretation of several articles of the Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic. This concerns Article 67, the second paragraph of Part 2 of Article 68, and Part 1 of Article 72, and their interrelation with the norms of the 2010 Constitution and the Law "On the Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic," which was adopted in a referendum on April 11, 2021, and came into force on May 5, 2021. The court reached important conclusions.
The Constitution serves as the fundamental normative basis on which public authority is built and functions. It must be stable, as it serves as the foundation for the rule of law, but at the same time remains a living document capable of adapting to changes in society and correcting the mechanisms of power in response to new challenges without undermining its fundamental principles.
The people of Kyrgyzstan, being the sole source of power, legitimized the new Constitution in the referendum on April 11, 2021, and determined the structure of public authority.
The transition from one constitutional model to another is an objective phenomenon; however, such a change must be legally justified. It is important not only how the text of the Basic Law changes but also the logic of the transition from one normative basis to another. A constitutional rupture can undermine the legitimacy of power, create legal collisions, and violate the principles of legal certainty. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure legal continuity in the process of changing constitutional guidelines.
Particular attention should be paid to the normative design of the transitional period, as it is during this time that the rule of law is in a vulnerable state. Transitional provisions act as a legal stabilizer, introducing guarantees that help minimize instability during the constitutional reform.
These guarantees ensure the manageability of the transition and the continuity of public authority.
Transitional provisions are important in that they transform a potentially crisis moment of constitutional change into an organized legal process. This allows for the updating of the Constitution without undermining the legitimacy of power and without breaking the legal regulation of social relations.
The constitutional model, the adoption of which was the result of the referendum on April 11, 2021, not only redistributed powers and changed the structure of power but also affected the legal regime of the presidency in the Kyrgyz Republic.
The new edition of the Constitution of 2021 established a five-year term for the president in Article 67 and limited the number of terms in office to two.
Unlike the 2010 edition, where the president was elected for six years and could not be re-elected, the new model allows for re-election after a five-year term.
These changes have significant practical implications, as the new constitutional model began to operate during the term of the current president, S.N. Japarov, who was elected under the old Constitution of 2010 and took office on January 28, 2021, for six years.
According to the new basic law, his term of office continued within the framework of the new constitutional architecture.
As indicated in the president's request, after five years, various approaches emerged regarding the duration of his term. The discussion revolves around whether the five-year term established in Article 67 of the new Constitution applies to the mandate of the president elected under the 2010 Constitution, or whether the term remains the same with the new norms applied to the further exercise of powers.
The Constitutional Court believes that the mandate of President S.N. Japarov is the result of the people exercising their constituent power and represents a completed legal fact, leading to a stable public-legal position.
The electoral act of the people signifies the highest trust and delegation of power, implying that the decision will be fully realized. The essence of voting lies not only in choosing a person but also in defining the parameters of the mandate—its duration and the procedure for exercising powers.
The legal formalization of the mandate is completed with the oath, and from that moment it is subject to mandatory compliance under the conditions in which it was granted by the people within the then-existing constitutional order.
In the context of constitutional transition, the intertemporal action of norms (intertemporal) is important, ensuring the continuity of power and the legitimacy of institutions during the transitional period. This means that the new Constitution should not interfere with already existing legal relations formed under previous rules. The constitutional transition should not devalue previously achieved legal results.
Thus, any interpretation that reduces the president's term of office based on the 2021 Constitution is a retroactive change of rules, which contradicts the principles of legal certainty and the legitimacy of elections.
The prohibition on retroactive reduction of the term is confirmed by the transitional regulation established upon the introduction of the 2021 Constitution. Part 1 of Article 3 of the Law "On the Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic" clearly states that the president elected in 2021 for six years continues to exercise his powers in accordance with the new Constitution, and this term is considered the first under the new limitation on the number of terms.
Thus, this provision of the Law resolves the issues of applying the new Constitution to the continuing powers of the president and considers the six-year term as the first under the new rule of two terms.
The Constitutional Court emphasizes that counting the six-year term as the first does not affect its initial parameters, including the duration and the moment of completion of the mandate. This counting does not lead to a revision of the term or its reduction; it serves only for the application of the two-term rule. Any other interpretation is unacceptable, as it may lead to an unlawful change in the end date of the mandate.
Thus, the five-year term established by Article 67 of the 2021 Constitution does not apply to the presidential mandate that began under the 2010 Constitution. It should end in the originally established term—six years—while the current president continues his powers according to the 2021 Constitution, and his six-year term will be considered the first under the new two-term rule.
The Constitutional Court also points out that the transitional provisions contained in the law have the same legal status as the main text of the Constitution, as they were adopted simultaneously with it based on the results of the referendum. These provisions are organically linked to the Constitution and have equal legal force with it. Therefore, the law containing transitional provisions cannot be regarded on par with an ordinary law.
Regarding early elections, the Constitutional Court emphasizes that the existence of discussions about the term of the president's powers does not create grounds for an early electoral cycle.
Early elections are only possible as a result of the premature termination of powers, which can occur only for the reasons specified in Part 1 of Article 72 of the 2021 Constitution: resignation upon request, removal from office in the established manner, inability to perform duties due to health reasons, or death.
This is a closed list of grounds; any expansion of it is considered unconstitutional.
In the absence of the specified grounds, the scenario of early presidential elections is excluded, and the rules of the regular electoral cycle apply.
The regular elections for the president of the Kyrgyz Republic must be held in accordance with Chapter 10 of the Law "On the Elections of the President of the Kyrgyz Republic and Deputies of the Jogorku Kenesh of the Kyrgyz Republic" on the fourth Sunday of January 2027 (January 24, 2027), and their appointment must be carried out by the Jogorku Kenesh no later than four months before the voting day (by September 24, 2026).
