Kyrgyz strongman Japarov bids for second term as president

Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov, who ​has cemented firm control ​over what was once Central ‌Asia’s most ​democratic country, filed on Tuesday to run for a second term in an election scheduled ‌for January 27, 2027, the electoral commission said. Japarov, a nationalist and populist, swept to power during unrest following a disputed parliamentary election in October 2020 ‌and has since cracked down on opposition parties and independent media, while ‌presiding over an economic boom.

Five other candidates have already announced their intention to join the presidential race but political analysts say none poses a serious threat to ⁠Japarov's ​grip on power. Kyrgyzstan, ⁠a former Soviet republic of about 7.4 million people, has experienced repeated political upheaval, ⁠with three presidents ousted by protests since independence in 1991.

No Kyrgyz leader has ​served a full second term in office since founding president Askar ⁠Akayev. He was ousted at the end of his third term as president in ⁠an ​uprising in 2005. Resource-poor Kyrgyzstan has traditionally been heavily reliant on remittances from migrants working in Russia. However, in recent years it has ⁠increasingly become a clearinghouse for trade with Russia redirected by Western sanctions ⁠imposed on Moscow ⁠over the war in Ukraine.

Kyrgyzstan is in a customs union with Russia and also hosts Russian military bases.