NEW PRESIDENT, OLD POLITICAL SYSTEM: KYRGYZSTAN’S CONTINUING DESCENT INTO AUTHORITARIANISM
Igor Kotler
The political development of contemporary Kyrgyzstan demonstrates a pronounced and continuing movement away from the comparatively pluralistic political system that distinguished the country from many of its Central Asian neighbors during the earlier decades of independence following the dissolution of the Soviet Union at the end of 1991.
Since the political upheaval of 2020 and the rise of Sadyr Japarov to the presidency in January 2021, political authority has become increasingly concentrated in the executive branch, while institutional checks and balances, parliamentary influence, independent journalism, civil society, and the space available for organized political opposition have substantially weakened. Constitutional changes adopted in 2021 strengthened presidential authority, while subsequent political and legal developments have increasingly enabled law enforcement agencies, security services, and other state institutions to exercise broad powers against individuals and organizations regarded as critical of the government.
