Leader's party expected to do well in Kyrgyzstan poll

Subject

The October elections in Kyrgyzstan.

Significance

Parliamentary elections will take place on October 4, after a one-month campaign. Elections in Kyrgyzstan are among the freest in the entire post-Soviet space. In a chronically unstable political landscape, President Almazbek Atambayev's Social-Democratic Party of Kyrgyzstan (SDPK) is expected to win by a landslide. Of the more than 200 parties in the country, 28 have registered to contest the parliamentary polls. Of these, 14 have submitted the required electoral lists and paid the 5-million-som (75,000-dollar) deposit.

Impacts

• Kyrgyzstan's EEU membership will see the country mirror Russian domestic legislation.
• Tensions between ethnic Uzbeks and Kyrgyz inside Kyrgyzstan may start to grow if the economy falters.
• The fusion of Butun Kyrgyzstan and Emgek (Labor) makes the new formation the most likely challenger for the president's side.