Home > 4 Types of elections > KYRGYZSTAN - Urgent Amicus Curiae Brief Relating to the Postponement of Elections Motivated by Constitutional Reform
 
 
 
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Paragraph 17
 

The Constitution does not provide for a fixed date for the elections after the end of the parliamentary term of five years (which begins with the oath of the deputies) and therefore allows some discretionary power to the authority in charge of determining the date. According to Article 64 of the Constitution, the President is vested with the authority of calling the elections. This is in line with the practice of many other states. In fact, according to the Venice Commission’s Report on choosing the date of an election, there is no common practice to have the exact date of elections stipulated in the constitution or in the electoral law and the competent authorities have in many countries at least some discretion to decide on that issue. Therefore, it is neither against democratic standards nor against the voters’ fundamental rights if the elections take place sometime after the term of office of the deputies has ended. Generally speaking, an average time interval is established to call for new elections and the average time interval to organise them is a period between 30 and 70/80 days.