A faithful ally of Almazbek Atambayev will become a chief in the headquarters of presidential candidate Sooronbay Jeenbekov.
In June, the Parliament will approve a new date for the presidential election 2017. Most likely, it will be October 15.
The official registration of presidential candidates will begin then. Judging by the ratings, the struggle will unfold between two ex-prime ministers — Omurbek Babanov and Temir Sariyev.
The representative of the party of power, the most silent of all heads of the government — Sooronbay Jeenbekov- will be their serious rival.
It is possible that another representative of SDPK tops will take part in the presidential race: Speaker of Parliament Chynybay Tursunbekov.
Steersman of Kyrgyzstan
According to 24.kg news agency, Sooronbay Jeenbekov has already started negotiations with the leaders of the parliamentary parties.
However, there is a noteworthy detail: the favorite of the Social Democrats was suspended from the formation of the pre-election headquarters. All decisions on the strategy and tactics of the forthcoming campaign will be taken by the Adviser to the President Ikramzhan Ilmiyanov.
The Adviser to the head of state has several successful for the current government election campaigns under his belt. Starting from 2010, he invariably oversaw the parliamentary elections. And in 2011 he conducted the election campaign of Almazbek Atambayev.
During the reign of Almazbek Atambayev, his former driver turned into one of the most powerful administrators. Many personnel decisions were made on the recommendations of Ikramzhan Ilmiyanov.
Sapar Isakov — Prime Minister?
Another key figure in the headquarters of the Social Democrats will be the current head of the Presidential Administration — a young and ambitious Sapar Isakov. It is no coincidence that state television channels show Sapar Isakov more often than the Speaker of the Parliament and the current head of government, and even Almazbek Atambayev himself.
It is possible that one of the most promising Social Democrats will head the government after the presidential candidate Sooronbay Jeenbekov has left his office in accordance with the law.
The possible future head of the Cabinet of Ministers Sapar Isakov, as well as Ikramzhan Ilymyanov, will have one, but very important task — to lead SDPK’s protégé to the country’s presidency.
It is obvious that the further political career of Sapar Isakov will completely depend on the outcome of the presidential elections. If successful, he will remain the prime minister.
Jeenbekov becomes public
The choice in favor of Sooronbay Jeenbekov as a presidential candidate from SDPK was made only in April. Prior to this moment Almazbek Atambayev and the SDPK political council considered Sapar Isakov as their main protégé. As a result, Prime Minister Jeenbekov, close to the age of the President, seemed to the Social Democrats a more reliable option than Sapar Isakov, whose youth served as a negative motive so far.
After the political council of the party decided on their candidate, the Prime Minister began to give interviews to the local media. Prior to that, Sooronbay Jeenbekov did not deal with political issues and practically did not appear in public within a year.
… A terrible tragedy occurred in the Uzgen district on April 29. Early in the morning, at 6.50, a large landslide came down to Zerger rural area, killing 24 people. Sooronbay Jeenbekov was informed about the accident within half an hour. But the Prime Minister buried his elder brother, Kantoro Toktomamatov on this day.
Almost the entire government and deputies of the Parliament left for the funeral of the Prime Minister’s brother. Two specially ordered at Manas airport aircrafts were ordered for them.
The Prime Minister came to the place of tragedy only after he had paid last respect to his brother. And the high-ranking officials and deputies, who flew to the small homeland of the prime minister for budgetary money, returned to the capital after a funeral dinner.
This was one of the first public campaigns of the Prime Minister — the commemoration of his brother and the visit to the survivors in Zerger…
Second candidate? Quite possibly
The nomination of Sooronbay Jeenbekov as presidential candidate inspired only a part of the SDPK political council. The controversy over possible candidates for the main post in the country nearly caused a quarrel between the entire top command of the Social Democrats.
As the main argument in favor of Jeenbekov were the data of some ratings, judging by which only the Prime Minister could make a real competition in the elections to well-known politicians — Temir Sariev and Omurbek Babanov.
But according to other data, not voiced at the political council, the incumbent Prime Minister is much inferior in popularity to another social democrat, Speaker of the Parliament Chynybay Tursunbekov.
It is possible that ordinary Social Democrats will raise the issue of the second candidate at the upcoming congress of the party in June.
We are waiting for developments.
