Kyrgyzstan has adopted amendments to the rules governing the Jogorku Kenesh (parliament), introducing a new First Deputy Speaker position and setting a start date of January 1, 2027 for electronic voting tied to biometric identification.
The amendments were passed by lawmakers on December 24, 2025 and later signed by President Sadyr Japarov, with the stated objective of optimizing parliamentary work. Alongside the new senior post, the changes limit representation per faction or parliamentary group on each committee to no more than four members.
A key operational shift is the introduction of an electronic vote-counting system that requires identity verification using fingerprints and/or facial geometry. The 24.kg summary of the amendments specifies the dual modality and the proposed implementation date of January 1, 2027. Caspian Post’s coverage mirrors the same set of changes: a First Deputy Speaker role, committee membership caps, and biometric identification to support electronic voting.
The move fits into a broader effort to prevent “proxy voting,” where deputies vote for absent colleagues. In December 2025, 24.kg reported that a biometric voting system would be introduced for the new convocation beginning in January 2026, describing it as a response to public outrage over past incidents of deputies voting on behalf of others.
Taken together, the sequence of reports suggests a tightening and formalization of the identification layer used for parliamentary voting: earlier coverage emphasized fingerprint-only voting, while the January 2026 amendment summary expands the identification options to fingerprints and/or facial geometry and sets a later implementation date for the electronic vote-counting system.
Kyrgyzstan has been expanding its biometric infrastructure across multiple government functions. The country recently launched a new generation of biometric passports with over 30 security features and has deployed facial recognition systems in municipalities as part of a broader surveillance network.
Sources: Caspian Post, 24.kg, 24.kg
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By Ali Nassar-Smith
