Quid Pro Quo in Kyrgyz Election

Sunday, 20 November, 2005

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IWPR Central Asia

As election time draws nearer in Kyrgyzstan, parliamentary hopefuls are buying voters’ affections with a blitz of food, presents and favours said to be worth millions of dollars.

The array of incentives on offer is impressive, ranging from bundles of cash to free medical checks for prospective voters. And opinion polls and anectodal evidence suggests that it works.

Some small towns and villages in the north of Kyrgyzstan have witnessed candidates plying young people with vodka in hope of winning their support. Others promise new roads, trolleybus lines or good-paying jobs, while the more pragmatic hand out bags of coal.

Journalist Alexander Kulinsky told IWPR, “The people are happy about the elections, because according to the most modest estimates, this parliamentary campaign will spend 250 million dollars on us.”

Valentin Bogatyryov, head of the state-run International Institute for Strategic Studies, described the pre-election period as the “happiest time for voters”.

“In the south they are… given 2,000 soms for a vote. All the candidates give money. Voters take everything, but they will vote however they want.”

However, the evidence points the other way – the signs are that many people are influenced by the scale of generosity shown by candidates.

A recent survey by the consultancy Expert, commissioned by the media development organisation Internews-Kyrgyzstan, found that voters around the country agreed that “presents” from candidates are an important factor in determining how they will cast their ballots on election day.

“Citizens give a great deal of attention to this issue in conversation, constantly comparing which candidate is more generous,” said Expert’s Aigul Bakirova.

Observers say often the vote-buying process is less than subtle, not surprising since it has the unofficial sanction of president Askar Akaev who in 1995 told voters to “take what candidates give you, but vote with your heart”. The opposition also got in on the act, saying “Take these presents. They were bought with stolen money. They belong to you.”

One candidate in the Jalalabad region, Bektur Asanov, has attended public meetings where his rivals openly talk about how much they are prepared to give in order to win votes. He said they also remind voters of past gifts of flour, farm equipment, fertiliser and money.

And it is all within earshot of members of the country’s electoral commission. “[They] listen to all this and do not take any measures. Buying votes has become so commonplace that it is hard to imagine elections without it,” said Asanov.

The Osh region is fairly typical of the pre-election buying spree currently taking place across Kyrgyzstan.

An election monitoring group investigating vote-buying noted that a local hospital received new carpets from a particular candidate, who also handed out shawls to women voters, while another provided materials to repair the area’s roads.

Elsewhere in the Osh region, a candidate slaughtered 50 sheep to feed potential voters, and another opened a special shop to hand out presents including towels and crockery. Local oligarchs standing for parliament in Osh have gone even further, promising to write off costly debts for gas and electricity in exchange for support.

Tair, from the village of Japalak, told IWPR that one potential deputy gathered together all the women of the community, gave them presents of bowls and teapots, and then asked for their votes. A neighbouring village got an electricity transformer and some gas piping. And everyone was getting plov – the traditional rice and meat dish – as successive candidates hosted collective meals.

Voters often help candidates to recruit their fellow-citizens, acting as intermediaries by taking money from parliamentary hopefuls in exchange for delivering votes. Some pocket all the cash, while others share it with the people they are seeking to persuade.

The unemployed, meanwhile, have been taken on as temporary campaigners, working for two hours each morning and again in the evening.

Many Kyrgyz citizens see this pre-election period as a good chance to get things done in and around their homes.

An IWPR contributor was recently visited by neighbours who proposed asking one of the candidates in their constituency to shell out some cash to repair the damaged pipes in their apartment block.

“It’ll cost about 100 dollars. He can repair them, and we’ll promise to vote for him,” said one of the neighbours. “We need to get him now, before the elections, so that he agrees. Afterwards it will be pointless. No one will ever see him again.”

Anecdotal evidence suggests that buying votes is often cost-effective.

“I must admit that we will vote for the person who hands out the most,” said Jalil Kaziev, from the Naryn district.

However, others say the orgy of vote-buying has left them confused. Toktosun Paizov from the Suzak district in the southern Jalalabad region has no idea who to vote for.

“One of the candidates gave us all flour in summer. And now other candidates have come along who we like more for their civil position. But others have started to give good money, which we really need right now,” he said.

As the election draws close, those who have accepted “gifts” while intending to vote for anyone they want are coming under pressure.

Journalist Jarkyn Ibraeva, from the radio station Almaz-Naryn said, voters are being intimidated by candidates’ representatives claiming anyone who has taken money in exchange for their vote has been “marked” and can therefore be identified if they don’t support their benefactor.

“People still don’t understand what marking is. They are told that all their data is put into a computer, and after the voting the computer will record how each person voted,” said Ibraeva.

In reality, those participating in the parliamentary poll will have their finger marked, simply to ensure they vote only once.

Edil Baisalov, leader of the non-government Coalition for Democracy and Civil Society, condemns the practice of vote-buying, warning that it will only prompt politicians to further acts of dishonesty.

“What it means is that we are giving our consent for elected deputies to steal themselves, and to allow ministers to steal,” he said. “This is all taken as a matter of course.”

Ainagul Abdrakmanova is coordinator of IWPR Kyrgyzstan. Leila Saralaeva is an independent journalist in Bishkek. IWPR contributors Jalil Saparov in Jalalabad; Alla Pyatibratova in Osh and Aliya Abdullina in Naryn contributed to this article.