Home > 1.1.3.3 Individual submission of candidature > KYRGYZ REPUBLIC- Joint Opinion on the Draft Electoral Law
 
 
 
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Paragraph 29
 

  A. Electoral system for the distribution of parliamentary mandates


Article 86(2) of the draft law limits the right to nominate candidates for parliamentary elections to political parties. The OSCE/ODIHR and the Venice Commission previously recommended that the law be amended to provide for independent candidates. This recommendation has not been addressed and Article 86(2) prevents individuals from standing for office as independent candidates, which is not in line with the 1990 OSCE Copenhagen Document. Paragraph 7.5 of the 1990 OSCE Copenhagen Document states: “[T]he participating States will] respect the right of citizens to seek political or public office, individually or as representatives of political parties or organisations, without discrimination”. General Comment 25 (1996) of the UN Human Rights Committee to Article 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights also states, in Paragraph 17 that the “right of persons to stand for election should not be limited unreasonably by requiring candidates to be members of parties or of specific parties.” The Venice Commission and OSCE/ODIHR again recommend that the law be amended to provide for the candidacy of independent candidates in parliamentary elections.