Constitution: adopted 5 May 1993 note : amendment proposed by President AKAYEV and passed in a national referendum on 10 February 1996 significantly expands the powers of the president at the expense of the legislature
Legal system: based on civil law system
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch: chief of state: President Askar AKAYEV (since 28 October 1990) head of government: Prime Minister Apas JUMAGULOV (since NA December 1993) cabinet : Cabinet of Ministers appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; elections last held 24 December 1995 (next to be held NA 2000); prime minister appointed by the president election results : Askar AKAYEV elected president; percent of vote - Askar AKAYEV 75%; note - elections were held early which gave the two opposition candidates little time to campaign; AKAYEV may have orchestrated the "deregistration" of two other candidates, one of whom was a major rival
Legislative branch: bicameral Supreme Council or Zhogorku Kenesh consists of the Assembly of People's Representatives (70 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms) and the Legislative Assembly (35 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms) elections: Assembly of People's Representatives - last held 5 February 1995 (next to be held NA 2000); Legislative Assembly - last held 5 February 1995 (next to be held NA 2000) election results : Assembly of People's Representatives - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - NA; note - not all of the 70 seats were filled at the 5 February 1995 elections; as a result, run-off elections were held at later dates; the assembly meets twice yearly; Legislative Assembly - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - NA; note - not all of the 35 seats were filled at the 5 February 1995 elections; as a result, run-off elections were held note: the legislature became bicameral for the 5 February 1995 elections
Judicial branch: Supreme Court, judges are appointed for a 10-year term by the Zhogorku Kenesh on recommendation of the president; Constitutional Court; Higher Court of Arbitration
Political parties and leaders: Social Democratic Party or SDP;
Democratic Movement of Kyrgyzstan or DDK [Jypar JEKSHEYEV, chairman];
National Unity; Communist Party of Kyrgyzstan or PCK [Absamat
MASALIYEV, chairman]; Democratic Movement of Free Kyrgyzstan or ErK;
Republican Popular Party of Kyrgyzstan; Agrarian Party of Kyrgyzstan;
Ata Meken Party [Omurbek TEKEBAYEV]; ASABA [Chaprashty BAZARBAY];
Movement for the People's Salvation [Djumgalbek AMAMBAYEV]; Ashar
[Zhumagazy USUPOV]
Political pressure groups and leaders: National Unity Democratic
Movement; Peasant Party; Council of Free Trade Unions; Union of
Entrepreneurs; Agrarian Party; Kyrgyz Committee on Human Rights
[Ramazan DYRYIDAYEV]
International organization participation: AsDB, CIS, EBRD, ECE, ECO,
ESCAP, FAO, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, Intelsat, IOC,
IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, NACC, OIC, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNCTAD,
UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (applicant)
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Bakytbek ABDRISAYEV chancery: 1732 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20007 telephone: [1] (202) 338-5141 FAX : [1] (202) 338-5139