Early Parliamentary Elections, 30 November 2025

In anticipation of an official invitation to observe the 30 November 2025 early parliamentary elections in the Kyrgyz Republic, and in accordance with its mandate, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) undertook a Needs Assessment Mission (NAM) from 29 September to 3 October. 1 The NAM included Lusine Badalyan, ODIHR Senior Election Adviser, and Yelena Kovalyova, ODIHR Election Adviser.

The purpose of the mission was to assess the pre-election environment and preparations for the early parliamentary elections. Based on this assessment, the NAM should recommend whether to deploy an ODIHR election-related activity for the forthcoming elections and, if so, what type of activity best meets the identified needs. Meetings were held with officials from state institutions as well as with representatives of candidates, media, civil society and diplomatic community. A list of meetings is annexed to this report.

Mission at a glance

Head of Mission: Tamás Meszerics (Hungary)

Core team of 12 experts from 11 OSCE participating States, based in Bishkek

30 long-term observers deployed throughout the country

Mission schedule

21 October: Opening of the mission

27 October: Arrival of long-term observers

28 October: Briefing of long-term observers

29 October: Deployment of long-term observers throughout the country

25 November: Arrival of short-term observers

26 - 27 November: Briefing of short-term observers

28 November: Deployment of short-term observers

30 November: Election day

1 December: Press conference on preliminary findings and conclusions

3 December: Departure of short-term observers

7 December: Departure of long-term observers

12 December: Departure of the core team

Following an invitation from the Central Commission for Elections and Referenda of the Kyrgyz Republic to observe the early parliamentary elections scheduled for 30 November 2025, and in accordance with its mandate, ODIHR has deployed an Election Observation Mission (EOM) for these elections.

The ODIHR EOM and the OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek operate separately under their specific mandates.

Long-term Observation

The ODIHR EOM, headed by Tamás Meszerics, consists of 12 international experts based in Bishkek. In addition, 30 long-term observers, from 17 participating countries, will be deployed throughout the country from 29 October.

The mission will assess the elections for their compliance with OSCE commitments and other international obligations and standards, as well as with national legislation. Observers will, in particular, look into the legal framework for and the administration of elections, candidate registration, conduct of the campaign, the resolution of election-related disputes, campaign finance rules, as well as media environment and media coverage of the elections. They will also assess how prior ODIHR election-related recommendations have been implemented. As part of the observation, the EOM will conduct comprehensive monitoring of the media.

Election Day

ODIHR will request 300 short-term observers to be deployed immediately prior to the 30 November elections. The short-term observers will be deployed throughout the country in multinational teams of two to follow the opening of polling stations, the voting, the counting of ballots, and the tabulation of results.

The day after the elections, ODIHR, together with its parliamentary partners, will issue a statement of preliminary findings and conclusions at a press conference. A final report on the observation of the entire electoral process will be issued approximately eight weeks after the end of the observation mission.

Previous Elections

ODIHR has previously observed 14 elections and referenda in the country, most recently the 2021 parliamentary elections.