17:55, 17 февраля 2026, Bishkek - 24.kg news agency , Turdubek AIGYROV
The Constitutional Court of the Kyrgyz Republic has concluded that the mandate of the president elected in January 2021 under the 2010 Constitution must be completed within the originally established six-year term. The five-year term introduced by the 2021 Constitution does not apply to the already commenced presidential mandate.
Thus, the Court provided an official interpretation of specific provisions of the Basic Law at the request of the President. The clarification concerns Article 67, Paragraph two of Part 2 of Article 68, and Part 1 of Article 72, in their interrelation with the 2010 Constitution and the Law «On the Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic,» adopted by referendum on April 11, 2021.
In its ruling, the Court emphasized that an electoral mandate is the result of the direct expression of the people’s will as the bearer of sovereignty and constitutes a completed legal fact. Its parameters, including the term of office, cannot be altered retroactively.
The Constitutional Court stated that retroactive reduction of the term would contradict the principle of legal certainty and the legitimacy of elections. The new Constitution must not interfere with already established public legal relations formed under previous rules.
The Court also referred to Part 1 of Article 3 of the Law «On the Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic,» under which the president elected in 2021 for a six-year term continues to exercise powers in accordance with the 2021 Constitution. This term is counted as the first under the «no more than two terms» limitation.
It was separately clarified that counting the six-year term as the first does not imply its recalculation or reduction. It serves only for the application of the new rule on the number of terms and does not affect the expiration date of the current mandate.
Accordingly, the incumbent president will complete the full six-year term, while the five-year term provision will apply to subsequent electoral cycles.
The Court stressed that the grounds for early presidential elections are exhaustive and listed in Part 1 of Article 72 of the 2021 Constitution: resignation, removal from office in accordance with established procedures, inability to perform duties due to illness, or death.
Public discussions regarding the length of the presidential term cannot serve as grounds for early termination of the mandate.
In the absence of such grounds, the regular electoral cycle applies.
The next presidential election should be held on the fourth Sunday of January 2027—January 24.
The Zhogorku Kenesh is obligated to schedule the election no later than four months before election day, i.e., by September 24, 2026.