Status of Candidates
1. All candidates shall have equal rights and bear equal responsibilities except for the cases established by this Code.
2. Candidates who fill government positions and positions in representative self-government bodies, as well as positions of heads of government and municipal organizations and entities, of organizations with governmental share exceeding 30% and of their sub-entities, including members of the Jogorku Kenesh of the Kyrgyz Republic, holding these positions, shall not use the advantages of their official position or rank.
In this Code the term “use of advantages of official position or rank” shall mean the following:
involvement of individuals who are subordinated or officially dependent in another way, attraction of other civil servants during the working hours for conduct of activities promoting nomination and/ or election;
use of the premises, occupied by government or local self-government bodies, for activities promoting nomination and (or) election provided other candidates cannot use the same premises on the same conditions;
use of telephone, fax and other types of communication, information services, office equipment, which provide for functioning of government institutions or local self-government bodies, for the activity promoting nomination and (or) election;
free of charge or privileged use of means of transportation that are in government or municipal property for activities promoting nomination and (or) election. This provision shall not be applicable to individuals who use the abovementioned means of transportation in accordance with the laws on state protection and to the deputies of the Jogorku Kenesh of the Kyrgyz Republic;
gathering of signatures, pre-election campaigning by civil servants or officers of local self-government bodies in the course of their official journeys;
privileged access (compared to other candidates) to mass media with the aim of gathering of signatures or pre-election campaigning.
Observance of the above restrictions should not hinder the elected officials to exercise their responsibilities with regard to their constituents.
Heads, deputy heads of ministries, of state committees, of state commissions, of administrative entities of law-enforcement and of fiscal organs, of their oblast, rayon structural sub-entities, heads and deputy heads of local state administrations, of local administrations in cities of Bishkek and Osh, of state organizations and entities with state or municipal share in the statutory capital exceeding 30% must discharge themselves from these positions, if the election district for elections of parliamentarians to Jogorku Kenesh where they are running is located in the influence zone of respective bodies listed above.
Note:
Influence zone – administrative-territorial unit, covered by the activities of the above-listed bodies.
3. Management of the company, institution, organization, military unit commander, head of a law-enforcement body, where the registered candidate works or serves, from the day of the candidate’s registration by a corresponding election commission till the day of the official publication of general results of elections within three calendar days should, upon the candidate’s application or report release him/her from work, service, study on any day and for any time within this period, keeping him/her paid an average salary by the institution, company, organization irrespective of their form of property. Registered candidates who are on public service or on municipal service, or working in mass media, shall be released for the time of their participation in elections from the execution of their official duties and shall file a certified copy of the corresponding order (decree) with the election commission not later than 5 calendar days after their registration. This rule shall not apply to the President of the Kyrgyz Republic and deputies of the Jogurku Kenesh of the Kyrgyz Republic.
4. During elections a registered candidate may not be dismissed (removed from position) on the initiative of the management (employer) or transferred to another work (position) without his/her consent.
The time of a registered candidate’s participation in elections shall be included in the general seniority record for the specialty he/she worked prior to his/her registration as a candidate.
5. Criminal proceedings may not be instituted against a registered candidate; he/she may not be put under arrest or imposed administrative sanctions through the court procedure. Opening of a criminal case should not serve as a ground to prohibit the candidate to implement his right to be elected.
6. A registered candidate shall lose the rights and be released from his/her responsibilities related to the candidate status starting from the moment of the official announcement of the election results made by the election commission in mass media. Should an election commission set up a repeat voting, the registered candidates, whose candidacy was not included in the repeated voting, will lose their candidate status from the day when the repeated voting was announced by the election commission.
7. The candidate shall also bear responsibility for the actions of his/her trusted persons and authorized representatives for their violation of the requirements of this Code.
(In the edition of the Law of the Kyrgyz Republic issued on December 15th 1999 year, No. 144, October 4th 2000 year, No. 84, October 14th 2001 year, No. 87, January 24th 2004 year, No. 7, 25th October 2004, No. 185)
