National holiday: National Day, 2 December; Independence Day, 31
August (1991)
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 Kubanychbek JUMALIYEV (since 25 March 1998) 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 Supreme Council on recommendation of the president; Constitutional Court; Higher Court of Arbitration
Political parties and leaders: Social Democratic Party or PSD [Zh. IBRAMOV]; Democratic Movement of Kyrgyzstan or DDK [Jypar JEKSHEYEV, chairman]; National Unity Democratic Movement or DDNE [Yury RAZGULYAYEV]; Communist Party of Kyrgyzstan or PKK [Absamat MASALIYEV, chairman]; Kyrgyzstan Erkin Party (Democratic Movement of Free Kyrgyzstan) or ErK [Tursunbay Bakir UULU]; Republican Popular Party of Kyrgyzstan [Zh. SHARSHENALIYEV]; Agrarian Party of Kyrgyzstan [A. ALIYEV]; Fatherland or Alta Mekel Party [Omurbek TEKEBAYEV]; Banner National Rivival Party or ASABA [Chaprashty BAZARBAY]; Movement for the People's Salvation [Djumgalbek AMAMBAYEV]; Mutual Help Movement or Ashar [Zhumagazy USUPOV]; Peasant Party; Agrarian Party
Political pressure groups and leaders: National Unity Democratic
Movement; Council of Free Trade Unions; Union of Entrepreneurs; Kyrgyz
Committee on Human Rights [Ramazan DYRYIDAYEV]
International organization participation: AsDB, CIS, EAPC, EBRD, ECE,
ECO, ESCAP, FAO, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, Intelsat,
IOC, IOM (observer), ISO (correspondent), ITU, OIC, OSCE, PCA, PFP,
UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO
(applicant)