International Electoral School Started

On 22 June, the Youth Electoral School (YES) started its work in Issyk-Kul in the "University" boarding house of the Kyrgyz National University named after Zhusup Balasagyn.

The school participants observed a minute of silence on the Day of Remembrance and Sorrow for the representatives of the Commonwealth nations who died during the Great Patriotic War.

Deputy Head of the IPA CIS Council Secretariat - Director of the International Institute for Monitoring the Democracy Development, Parliamentarianism and Suffrage Protection of Citizens of IPA CIS Member Nations (IPA CIS IIMDD), Doctor of Law, Professor Ivan Mushket noted that a young Kyrgyz girl Toktogon Altybasarova saved 150 Leningrad children taken from the besieged city and this memory of such feats unites peoples, on which spiritual unity rests.

The school participants were addressed by Deputy Secretary General of the IPA CIS Council - Plenipotentiary Representative of the Jogorku Kenesh of the Kyrgyz Republic Nurbek Satvaldiev, Director of the Institute of History and Regional Studies of the Kyrgyz National University named after Zhusup Balasagyn Turatbek Syrdybaev, Professor, Director of the Centre for Russian Studies of the Kyrgyz National University named after Zhusup Balasagyn Ainur Jorobekova and Head of the Department of Sociology and Political and Legal Disciplines of Bishkek State University named after K. Karasaev, associate professor Samarbek Syrgabaev.

Within the framework of the working program of the school, the Head of the Department of Theory and History of State and Law of the Pushkin Leningrad State University, Professor, Doctor of Law Roman Romashov gave a lecture to the students. Using examples from the electoral practice of the CIS countries, he presented the standards of elections enshrined in the Chisinau Convention, noting that, unlike other regions of the world, the Commonwealth since 2002 has clear, understandable, binding standards for elections and referendums.

On 23 June 2024, Chair of the CEC of the Kyrgyz Republic Nurzhan Shayldabekova gave a lecture to the school participants. She spoke in detail about the main stages of the reform of the electoral system of Kyrgyzstan, which began in 2013. The changes followed two directions: improving voter registration through biometrics and improving vote counting through the use of automatic readers.

Answering the questions of the school participants, Nurzhan Shayldabekova elaborated on the current state of the country's electoral system, existing initiatives to increase voter turnout related to the proposal to introduce fines for non-participation in voting, ensuring cyber security and protection of digital data, training of national observers, voting abroad.

The CEC Chair noted that to date, the Kyrgyz Republic has ensured transparency and accuracy in compiling electoral lists, accurate recording of votes, and created equal conditions for competitive elections.

On 24 June, a meeting of the international youth discussion club "Tavricheskiy" was held. The event was part of the program of the youth electoral school "Youth and Elections: Initiative, Responsibility, Security", which is held by the IPA CIS IIMDD, the Bishkek branch of the IPA CIS IIMDD and the Kyrgyz National University named after Zhusup Balasagyn.

The participants were school students, teachers and students of the Assembly's partner universities from Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Uzbekistan, staff members and experts of the IPA CIS IIMDD and its branches in Baku, Yerevan and Bishkek.

The session was devoted to the issues of proactive participation of young people in the electoral sphere, formation of responsible attitude of young citizens to participation in elections and referendums and their role in ensuring the security of the electoral process. The event was opened by Ivan Mushket.

Students of the Youth Electoral School also took part in an interactive game "Parliamentary Elections in the Kyrgyz Republic". They were divided into three competing political forces: the centrist party "Voice of the People", the left-wing party "Alliance of Progress" and the right-wing party "PLOD" (Party of Leaders of Unifying Action). The game was organised by the staff of the Bishkek branch of the IPA CIS IIMDD. The participants of the political struggle presented their programs and held pre-election debates.

On 26 June, the work of the Youth Electoral School in Issyk-Kul began with the defence of projects related to improving the legal culture and electoral activity of young people.

Ivan Mushketnoted that on the basis of the submitted projects, proposals will be prepared, which the school organisers will submit to the election administration bodies of the Commonwealth countries.

The teams analysed the level of youth involvement in the electoral process in the Kyrgyz Republic, the Russian Federation and the Republic of Uzbekistan and gave their recommendations. Team captains made presentations and answered questions from the jury.

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