Last week, Kyrgyzstan’s parliament, the Zhogorku Kenesh, officially set a date for the next presidential election: January 27, 2027. The country’s Central Election Commission (CEC) then opened the door for formal nominations.
So far, incumbent President Sadyr Japarov and Omurbek Suvanaliev – a politician and former minister of internal affairs – have announced their intentions to run.
In August, Japarov announced that he would seek a second term, something his political surrogates have been floating for some time. Japarov was elected, formally, in January 2021 after rising from literal prison to power amid the October 2020 unrest. At the time, Kyrgyzstan’s constitution mandated a single six-year presidential term. A referendum that took place at the same time as the presidential election in 2021 ushered in what critics called the “Khanstitution,” which provides for two five-year terms for the presidency.
In February 2026, Kyrgyzstan’s Constitutional Court clarified that Japarov’s current term does count as his first.
Japarov confirmed his ambition to seek a second term in an interview in which he also revealed that he’d initially planned for his former ally and former head of Kyrgyzstan’s State Committee for National Security, Kamchybek Tashiev, to ascend to the presidency. Japarov claimed he’d told Tashiev, “Be prepared, cleanse your circle, educate your people… Then I see: he’s not ready.”
Tashiev was convicted of a coup attempt in July, but spared a prison sentence. Prosecutors sought a harsher punishment on appeal only to have the charges reclassified and the sentence lessened further in September. He long denied any ambition to run for president. A month before his abrupt February dismissal, Tashiev responded to mounting rumors that he would seek the presidency by saying, “Many have tried and continue to try to sow discord between us, claiming that I aspire to the presidency. But this is not true… I do not intend to overthrow Sadyr Nurgoyevich [Japarov]… In this life, only death can separate us.”
Under the Kyrgyz Constitution, any citizen who is at least 35 years old, speaks the state language (Kyrgyz), and has lived in the country for at least 15 years is eligible to run for president. Potential candidates must gather at least 30,000 signatures and pay a nonrefundable fee of 1 million som (around $11,400). Individuals can nominate themselves or be nominated by a party. Under 2025 legislation, individuals with criminal records are barred from running for president.
Suvanaliev announced his presidential ambition in a September 24 interview with RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service, Azattyk. Suvanaliev served as minister of internal affairs from 2006-2007 under the Kurmanbek Bakiyev administration, then as governor of Naryn from 2008-2009, among other positions over the years, many of which appear to have been related to security and law enforcement. More recently, in 2019 then-President Sooronbay Jeenbekov appointed Suvanaliev a deputy secretary in the Security Council, a position he was dismissed from in October 2020 as the Jeenbekov administration collapsed in the face of protests. Until May 2021, he was serving as a representative of the government in Batken region.
In 2011, Suvanaliev contested for the presidency as an independent candidate. He recorded just over 16,000 votes, or 0.89 percent, in an election that Almazbek Atambayev won with 63.83 percent.
According to Azattyk, Suvanaliev positioned himself as opposition. He said he believes that a candidate who can challenge the incumbent president should run in the elections.
Japarov said in his August interview that the door was open for anyone to run against him: “Anyone who wants to run for office can do so. As they say, go ahead. We won’t restrict anyone. The elections will be transparent, and there will be no obstacles for competitors.”
In the country’s most recent election, a snap parliamentary poll held in November 2025, Japarov’s allies did particularly well amid a political atmosphere that observers referred to as “stifled” or dead.
As the presidential election approaches – and candidates step forward – the proof will be on the ballot and in the aftermath.
