On the elections in the Jogorku Kenesh, a proposal has been made to reduce the number of agitators involved during the pre-election period. The draft law was adopted by the Committee on Constitutional Legislation, State Structure, Judicial and Legal Issues, and Regulations of the Jogorku Kenesh.
According to the current legislation, political parties have the right to use up to 10,000 agitators during the pre-election period, while candidates in single-mandate districts can utilize up to 500 agitators. The author of the draft law, Deputy Zamirbek Mamasadykov, believes that this establishes unequal conditions for candidates.
"However, reducing their number will help reduce the financial burden on political parties and candidates from single-mandate districts, which is important for candidates vying for mandates under limited resources," as stated in the explanatory note to the draft law.
Zamirbek Mamasadykov proposes to reduce the number of agitators for political parties to 5,000 and for candidates running from single-mandate electoral districts to 100.
Deputy Chairman of the Central Election Commission Tynchtyk Shainazarov reported that during the elections in the Jogorku Kenesh, there were 3,703,000 voters and 2,494 polling stations, of which 2,435 were located within the territory of Kyrgyzstan.
"If, for example, a party hired the allowed 10,000 agitators, then there would be 4 agitators per polling station and one for every 3,070 voters. If the proposed draft law is passed and the number of agitators is reduced to 5,000, then there would be 2 agitators per station and one for a larger number of voters," said Tynchtyk Shainazarov.
"While we are deputies, we can build schools, do other things for which we will be re-elected. The point is that some candidates can afford to pay for the work of such a number of agitators, while others cannot. It is necessary for everyone to be on equal terms," emphasized Zamirbek Mamasadykov.
Dastan Jumabekov noted that such an approach does not create equal conditions for candidates.
"We all know that you are building schools, working well with donors. But in the next elections, young candidates will come to you, whom no one knows. They will have to convey their goals, program with which they came to the elections to the population through agitators," said the deputy.
The majority of deputies spoke out against reducing agitators for candidates elected in single-mandate districts. However, the draft law was supported by the committee with the condition that the maximum number of agitators would be discussed later, and amendments would be made to the draft law.
