Inadmissibility of abuse of the right of conducting election campaigns.

1. Electoral Commissions shall control the compliance with the established procedure of election campaigning and shall take measures to remove detected violations.

2. During the election campaign it is not allowed to abuse the freedom of the mass media: i.e. the propaganda of national, ethnic, racial, religious or interregional hatred, gender and other social superiority calling for discrimination and hatred; calls for the seizure of power, violent change of the constitutional order and violation of the integrity of the state; propaganda of war. The same applies to the holding of public events with the state and political figures of other countries with the coverage in the mass media; using photo and video materials with the state and political figures of other countries as well as other forms of abuse of the freedom of media prohibited by the legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic.

3. Since the moment of calling of elections it is prohibited to bribe the voters: to pay money; to give gifts and other material values; to carry out preferential sale of goods; to distribute free of charge any goods, except for printed campaigning materials, badges, T-shirts, headdresses, scarves, containing the symbols of the political party that nominated the list of candidates, the image of the candidate in accordance with the list approved by the Central Election Commission; to deliver services free of charge or on the preferential terms.

The payment for work performed within the framework of an employment relationship formalized in writing between a candidate or a political party and a contractor paid from the election fund of a candidate or a political party shall not be considered a bribe.

4. Candidates, their close relatives, spouses, representatives of candidates and a political party shall not be allowed to be engaged in charitable activities from the moment of calling the elections until the publication of election returns.

5. Candidates, their representatives, representatives of political parties, mass media and other persons while participating in election campaigns should not allow publications based on knowingly false information and damaging the honor, dignity or business reputation of candidates or political parties. The mass media and internet publications that allowed such publications, upon the request of a candidate or a political party shall be obliged to provide free of charge an opportunity to publish a refutation or an explanation to an article or speech that is not true or distorts it. Refutations or explanations shall be published on the same page, in the electronic space and in the same font as the information on which the refutation or explanation is given, in periodicals - in the next issue, in Internet publications - on the day of the receipt of the refutation or explanation, on television or radio - in the broadcast of the day following the day of receipt of the refutation or explanation. To make a refutation or other explanation public, airtime must be provided to the candidate or a political party at the same time as the day the original information was made public, and the volume of airtime should be at least the same as provided for the presentation of the original information but no less than two minutes.

6. A candidate or a political party may not use the airtime, printed materials, areas allocated for campaigning on the channels of the TV broadcasting companies provided to them for placement of campaigning materials for the following purposes:

1) dissemination of calls to vote against the candidate(s) or a political party;

2) descriptions of possible negative consequences in case a certain candidate is elected;

3) dissemination of information, where information about a candidate(s), a political party that nominated a registered candidate, in combination with negative comments obviously prevails;

4) dissemination of information that contributes to the creation of a negative attitude of voters towards the candidate or a political party which nominated the registered candidate.

7. Failure to provide a candidate of a political party with an opportunity to publish before the end of the election campaign a refutation or other explanations in defense of their reputation in the mass media or Internet publications within the terms established by paragraph 5 of this Article, if these mass media of Internet publication published information that can damage the reputation of a candidate or a political party, can be the basis for bringing mass media of Internet publications to account according to the legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic and depriving them of the accreditation of the Central Election Commission.

Payment for advertising of commercial and other activity not related to the elections using the names or images of candidates, as well as advertising using the names, emblems and other symbols of the political parties that have nominated candidates during the election campaign, shall be made only from the respective election fund. On the voting day and the day preceding the voting day, such advertising, including advertisement paid for from the election fund, shall not be allowed.

8. In case of violation by a candidate or a political party, as well as their representatives, mass media, Internet publications of the requirements of paragraphs 2, 3, 5 and 6 of the present Article, election commissions, voters, a candidate, a political party, as well as their representatives as well as the mass media shall have the right to apply to law enforcement agencies or a court for termination of illegal campaigning activity and bringing the guilty persons to account in accordance with the procedure established by the present constitutional Law and the acting legislation.

The law enforcement agencies must take measures to terminate illegal campaigning activities and immediately inform the relevant election commission of the identified facts and the measures taken.

9. The Central Election Commission shall control the observance of the established procedure for election campaigning and shall take measures to eliminate the violations. In the event that a candidate or a political party violate the requirements set forth in Articles 22-28 of the present constitutional Law, the respective election commission shall have the right to issue a written warning regarding the violation. In case of repeated violation (two or more times) of rules of election campaigning established by the present constitutional Law by a candidate or a political party, the relevant election commission shall have the right to bring them to account in accordance with the legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic.

In the event that the rules of conducting election campaign, specified in paragraph 2 of this Article are violated which is confirmed by the conclusion (act) of an authorized state agency, the Central Election Commission shall have the right to make a decision on cancellation of registration of a candidate or a list of candidates.

In the event of dissemination of fake printed, audiovisual and other campaign materials in violation of the requirements of this constitutional Law, as well as in the event of violation of the procedure for election campaigning established by this constitutional Law by the TV and radio broadcasting company, the editorial board of the periodical printed edition, the editorial board of the network publication, the Central Election Commission shall be obliged to apply to law enforcement agencies, the court or the authorized state agency in the area of information policy, including electronic and mass communications, information technology and communications, with a representation to terminate illegal campaigning activities, confiscation of illegal campaigning materials and bringing the TV and radio broadcasting company, the editorial staff of periodicals, the editorial staff of network publications, their officials and other persons to account in accordance with the law.

10. The law enforcement and other agencies shall be obliged to take measures to prevent illegal campaigning activities, prevent the production of forged and illegal pre-election printed, audiovisual and other campaigning materials and to confiscate them, to identify the manufacturers of the materials in question and the source of their payment and to immediately inform the relevant election commission and the commission of the referendum of the facts identified and the measures taken.

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