545 Notes on Recent Elections / Electoral Studies 22 (2003) 503–559 The parliamentary elections in Kyrgyzstan, February 2000 R. Abazov * Politics Department, La Trobe University, Victoria 3086, Australia 1. Introduction On 20 February 2000, the Kyrgyz Republic held its second parliamentary elections since declaring independence in August 1991. Pressure on the opposition before the elections, and irregularities during polling, were so blatant and widespread that even the pro-government intelligentsia condemned them as “… a bad job in the best Soviet traditions…”. 1 Observers for the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) described the parliamentary election as “a disaster for Kyrgyzstan’s repu- tation as an oasis of democracy in the authoritarian Central Asian desert”, since the government limited the choice open to the electorate and the election was marked by ‘flagrant official interference and vote rigging’. 2 2. Background During the first years following independence in 1991, the Jogorku Kenesh—the Kyrgyzstan parliament—played a more important role in the republic’s political life than legislatures in other Central Asian republics. There are several reasons for this. First, the Jogorku Kenesh has always been crucial for maintaining balance between two major regional groupings, or ‘clans’: Chui, Issyk-Kul’, Naryn, Talas on the one hand, and Djalal-Abad and Osh on the other. Balanced regional representation in parliament appeased those holding the common view that the Chui clan unfairly dominated the executive. Secondly, the Kyrgyzstan legislature has been an important instrument for checking and balancing the power of the executive. Kyrgyzstan was strongly influenced by Gorbachev’s attempt to democratise a one-party system through a series of political and constitutional reforms in 1989 and 1990. Third, the Jogorku Kenesh was a stronghold for reform-oriented Kyrgyzstani nomenklatura, * Tel.: +61-3-9479-1419; fax: +61-3-9479-1997. E-mail address: r.abazov@latrobe.edu.au (R. Abazov). 1 Abazov, R., Kyrgyzstan: Can We ‘Correct’ Democracy? (Country Files). Transition-On-Line (http://www.tol.cz). 2 Report on the Parliamentary Elections in Kyrgyzstan. CSCE, February–March 2000, pp. 8–9.