Kyrgyzstan – Presidential power and foreign policy; and a possible vote of no-confidence

As ever, information about Kyrgyzstan is difficult to come by in a language that I can follow. However, two issues have arisen.

Firstly, there are reports from 24.kg that the parliamentary Committee on Human Rights, Constitutional Law and State Structure has approved a bill that makes the president responsible for foreign policy.

Currently, the president’s general powers in the area of foreign policy are outlined in Art. 64 (6). This states:

6. The President:

1) shall represent the Kyrgyz Republic inside and outside the country;
2) shall conduct negotiations and sign upon consent of the Prime Minister international treaties; shall have the right to assign these powers to the Prime-minister, members of the Government as well as other officials;
3) shall sign instruments of ratification and instruments of accession;
4) shall appoint, upon consent of the Prime minister, diplomatic representatives of the Kyrgyz Republic in foreign States and permanent representatives in international organizations and shall recall them; shall accept the credentials and letters of recall of the heads of diplomatic missions of foreign States.

I have not seen the text of the bill and, presumably, the bill must be passed by the chamber. Moreover, as noted by opponents in another report, surely an ordinary bill would not be enough to change the president’s powers. A constitutional amendment would be needed. I will try to keep up with what happens to this bill.

Secondly, it looks as if parliament may be about to lodge a motion of no-confidence against the government. There is a report from Kabar stating that the motion may be held on 29 June.

Art. 85 (3) states:

3. The Jogorku Kenesh may consider the issue of no confidence in the Government at the initiative of one-third of the total number of deputies of the Jogorku Kenesh.

As I understand it, there are 120 deputies. So, a motion would require the signatures of 40 deputies to be lodged.

Bizarrely, there are reports that deputies from the ruling coalition have been signing the motion. The report states that 52 deputies have signed. For the government to be defeated, an absolute majority, or 61, is required. If the number of signatures is correct, then the government may be in trouble.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *