The status of candidates

1. All candidates shall have equal rights and shall have equal responsibilities except as provided for in this constitutional Law.

2. Since the moment of nomination until the results of elections are determined, a candidate shall suspend his/her office or official powers if he/she is:

1) a state political servant, except for a deputy of the Jogorku Kenesh or the President;

2) a civil servant, regardless of the type of civil service (civil, military, law enforcement, diplomatic);

3) a municipal political servant, except for a deputy of the local kenesh;

4) a municipal servant;

5) a head of a state or municipal enterprise or institution or enterprise with more than 30 % of state (municipal) participation and subdivisions thereof;

6) an employee of the mass media.

3. The heads of state agencies, local self-government bodies, enterprises, institutions, organizations, commanders of military units and other relevant officials of the bodies in which the candidate works or serves shall be obliged, within 3 calendar days from the moment the candidate submits an application or a report, to suspend the execution of his or her official duties while maintaining the average wage at the expense of the institution, enterprise or organization, regardless of the form of ownership.

4. Candidates or their authorized representatives as well as authorized representatives of political parties shall submit to the Central Election Commission a certified copy of relevant
orders (instructions) not later than 5 calendar days since the day of nomination of a candidate or a list of candidates.

5. Guarantees of activity of candidates envisaged in paragraphs 9 and 10 of this Article shall enter into force since the moment of registration by the Central Election Commission pursuant the procedure described in Articles 53 and 61 of the present constitutional Law.

6. Rights and guarantees of a candidate envisaged in the present constitutional Law shall exist until the determination of election returns and in case of appeal against the election returns by a candidate - before entry into force of the court decision.

7. A registered candidate shall lose his / her rights and shall be exempted from obligations related to the status of a candidate from the moment of official publication of election returns in the mass media by the Central Election Commission, and from the moment of early withdrawal - since the moment of withdrawal. In case the Central Election Commission appoints a repeated vote, the registered candidates for whose candidatures the repeated vote is not held shall lose their status from the date of appointment of the repeated vote by the Election Commission.

8. A candidate or a political party shall have the right to appoint representatives to election commissions, authorized representatives and trustees pursuant the procedure prescribed by this constitutional Law. In cases envisaged in the present constitutional Law, a candidate or a political party shall be responsible for the actions of their representatives related to the violation of requirements of this constitutional Law.

9. During the elections a registered candidate may not be dismissed from job (position) at the initiative of the administration (employer) or transferred to another job (position) or called for military service without his / her consent.

The time of participation in the elections by a registered candidate is counted as part of the total length of service in the specialty in which he or she worked prior to being registered as a candidate.

10. A registered candidate may not be held criminally liable, detained, arrested or subject to punitive measures imposed by a court of law until the day on which the electoral commission officially announces the election returns in the mass media without the consent of the Central Electoral Commission, except in the event of being detained at the crime scene.

11. In case of early termination of the powers of the deputy of the Jogorku Kenesh, a person, who is next in the registered list of candidates after the outgoing deputy, shall again acquire the rights and obligations related to the status of a candidate before the registration as a deputy of the Jogorku Kenesh by the Central Election Commission.

(In the version of the constitutional Law of the Kyrgyz Republic No 116 dated August 8, 2019)