Sadyr Nurgojo uulu Japarov (born 6 December 1968) is a Kyrgyz politician, lobbyist, and legislator who has been serving as the sixth president of Kyrgyzstan since 28 January 2021. He previously served as the 22nd prime minister in the 2020 interim government, following the resignation of President Sooronbay Jeenbekov. Japarov also became acting president of Kyrgyzstan after Jeenbekov's resignation, but resigned on 14 November 2020 to run in the 2021 presidential election, in which he was elected to succeed the acting president, Talant Mamytov.
Japarov began his political career as a deputy in 2005 after being elected to the Supreme Council and from 2007 served in the presidential administration under Kurmanbek Bakiyev before Bakiyev's overthrow in the 2010 Kyrgyz Revolution. Japarov then resumed office as a deputy and held popular rallies to overthrow the Kyrgyz government, supporting attempts to seize the Bishkek White House and allegedly to kidnap an akim, which made it necessary for him to flee Kyrgyzstan in 2013 to avoid prosecution. Japarov returned to Kyrgyzstan in 2017, where he was arrested and sentenced to an 11 year prison term due to his prior illegal political activities. His prison sentence was cut short when he was freed by his supporters during the 2020 Kyrgyz Revolution, leading for his rise to power in Kyrgyzstan.
Japarov's presidency is viewed as authoritarian, as he consolidated power and stifled dissent. Before Japarov took charge, Kyrgyzstan was known for a political climate more open than those of other post-Soviet states of Central Asia. He reintroduced a presidential system via constitutional and government system referendums that increased his executive powers and reduced the parliament's influence, as well as creating the People's Kurultai which resulted in Kyrgyzstan facing democratic backsliding. Several opposition politicians and activists were detained, independent media outlets have been shut down and journalists arrested, and new laws aimed at suppressing independent media were introduced. Under his presidency, the Kyrgyz government has embarked on a program of vastly increased public spending, much of which is going to companies owned by Japarov through complex networks of proxies.
Early life and education Japarov was born in Keng-Suu, a village in the Tüp District in what was then the Kirghiz SSR within the Soviet Union, in the family of Nurgozho and Kadic Japarov. After finishing his middle school education in 1986, he joined the Kyrgyz National Academy of Physical Culture and Sport. In 1987, Japarov was drafted into the Soviet Army, where he served for two years in Novosibirsk as a commander in a telecommunications division. After returning in 1989 with the rank of Junior Sergeant, Japarov continued his education in the academy until 1991. In 2006, Japarov graduated from the Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University in Bishkek with a degree in law.
Early political career Japarov started his political career after the 2005 Tulip Revolution. In March 2005, he was elected as member of the Supreme Council from the Tüp electoral district where he headed the Kelechek parliamentary faction. He was a supporter of President Kurmanbek Bakiyev. In 2006, Japarov was a member of the State Awards Commission. In 2007, he was Deputy Chairman of the Amnesty Commission.
In the 2007 parliamentary elections, he participated in the lists of the pro-presidential party Ak Jol, which won the majority of seats in parliament but went on to work as an adviser to the president. From 2008 to 2010, Japarov worked as an authorized representative of the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption.
Raider capture of Issyk-Kul Bank Japarov, during his tenure as a supreme commissioner in the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption, was repeatedly accused of raiding the Issyk-Kul Bank in order to help the business empire of Maxim Bakiyev, the son of then-president Kurmanbek Bakiyev. Japarov's sister, Raikul Japarova, in alliance with Lithuanian businessman Mikhail Nadel, a friend of Maksim Bakiyev, forcibly seized the Issyk-Kul Bank. Later, Raikul Japarova, becoming the nominal chairman of the Issyk-Kul bank, carried out all the instructions of Nadel to carry out all the activities. NBKR documents stated that through this bank, Sadyr Japarov and his sister laundered $5 billion for Maxim Bakiyev. Among which, according to the statement of the previous head of the State Committee for National Security, Abdil Segizbayev, there was money from drug trafficking and arms trafficking stating, "He made a turnover of this money and pulled it out clean and took his interest.".
In 2020, Erkinbek Asrandiev, ex-deputy prime minister and former auditor of the bank in 2013, also confirmed the raiding of the Issyk-Kul bank and its use for the purpose of laundering the funds of the ruling regime by Japarov and his sister Raikul. He stated it as a main reason for rejecting Japarov's offer to work in his cabinet of ministers in 2020. Another remark concerns the fact that, being the High Commissioner for Corruption, Japarov did not take any measures against the corruption schemes of the clan of Kurmanbek Bakiyev, his brother Janish Bakiyev and son Maxim Bakiyev, but rather maintained warm family relations with them.
Second Kyrgyz Revolution and the 2010 election In 2010, President Bakiyev was overthrown in the Kyrgyz Revolution of 2010. As a result of interethnic clashes that took place soon in Osh and Jalal-Abad, Japarov and his associates took an active part, which according to their own statements, they tried to prevent clashes. However, they were accused by opponents in actively supporting the Kyrgyz nationalists and provoking the conflict.
Following the revolution, Japarov was re-elected as a member of Supreme Council on the party list of Ata-Zhurt led by Kamchybek Tashiev, which won the majority of seats in the 2010 parliamentary election. From there, he became the chairman of the Committee on Judicial and Legal issues.
In his book 10 Years in Politics, Japarov later admitted that party received 3 million dollars for the 2010 parliamentary election from some "Kazakh friends." According to the electoral legislation, receiving assistance from abroad is prohibited by law. In the book, Sadyr Japarov accused Akhmatbek Keldibekov of embezzling funds from "Kazakh friends" in the 2010 elections. Keldibekov was also a close associate of fugitive President Kurmanbek Bakiyev and was the head of the tax service of the Kyrgyz Republic.
Attempted White House seizure and kidnapping of Issyk-Kul Region akim During one of the rallies for the nationalization of the Kumtor Gold Mine in the fall of 2012, the protesters attempted to take over the White House in Bishkek.
While Japarov, in a bulletproof vest and with weapons, entered the parliament, his allies, deputies, Mamytov and Tashiev, led people to storm the parliamentary fence. They had a large arsenal with them: automatic pistols, Makarov pistols, hunting carbines with hundreds of rounds, metal crowbars, stones and knives. Tashiev and Japarov were both charged under Article 295 of the Criminal Code of the Kyrgyz Republic "Forcible seizure of power or forcible retention of power." In March 2013, the Pervomaisky District Court of Bishkek found them guilty and sentenced them to one year and six months in prison. But in June 2013, the Bishkek City Court acquitted the politicians and released them in the courtroom. After one of these rallies in May 2013, residents of Issyk-Kul villages seized an electrical substation and de-energized a gold mining enterprise. At the same time, unknown people extorted $3 million from the manager of the Canadian Centerra in exchange for stopping the rallies.
On 27 June 2013, during the protests against Kumtor in Karakol, the protesters tried to kidnap the akim of the region Emilbek Kaptagaev and take him hostage. The Kyrgyz authorities accused Japarov and Kubanychbek Kadyrov of organizing the plan. The protest leaders were detained, but Japarov, who denied his involvement, fled Kyrgyzstan and lived in Cyprus for some time.
2017 arrest and imprisonment In 2017, Japarov attempted to return to Kyrgyzstan. On 25 March 2017, he was detained at the Kyrgyz-Kazakh border. In the case of allegedly attempting to kidnap Emilbek Kaptagaev, he was sentenced to 11 years and 6 months in prison. While in prison, Japarov founded the political party Mekenchil with Kamchybek Tashiyev. Between 2018 and 2019, the party and its supporters grew and organized protests against Japarov's imprisonment.
Interim leadership of Kyrgyzstan
On 5 October 2020, protests and demonstrations against the results of the parliamentary elections began throughout Kyrgyzstan.
After the release of Japarov from a seized government building on 6 October, he was taken to Ala-Too Square in Bishkek where he sought appointment to become prime minister. Members of parliament staying at the Dostuk Hotel approved his appointment that night, but the opposition's nominee, Tilek Toktogaziev, declared himself to be the legitimate head of government. Toktogaziev asserted the election to be illegal, claiming that members were pressured by Japarov's supporters who had gathered near the hotel. Opponents of Japarov also highlighted the absence of a quorum and a violation of parliamentary procedure.
On 13 October, then-President Sooronbay Jeenbekov rejected Japarov's appointment as prime minister due to proxy voting occurring. Jeenbekov requested for the parliament to reconvene and vote again for the nomination; this happened the following day, with Japarov again winning parliamentary nomination. Japarov successfully was approved as prime minister by Jeenbekov, but he was initially unsuccessful in persuading the president to step down until a new general election could be held. The following day, on 15 October, Jeenbekov resigned from the presidency, leading Japarov to declare himself as acting president. Despite the Kyrgyzstan Constitution stating that the speaker of the Supreme Council should succeed to the office, Kanatbek Isaev refused to assume office, resulting in Japarov becoming the acting president. He was confirmed as president of Kyrgyzstan by parliament on 16 October 2020.
Constitutional reforms Japarov initiated a series of constitutional reforms which were criticized by journalists and human rights activists for establishing an absolute presidential system in Kyrgyzstan, as it allowed for a president to serve two consecutive terms and massively lowered the powers of parliament which earned nickname for a new draft for the Constitution of Kyrgyzstan as "Khan-situation". In addition, the formation of People's Kurultai was compared to Turkmenistan's Khalk Maslakhaty (People's Council) with Article 7 of the new Kyrgyz constitution stating that "the highest deliberative, consultative and coordinating body of democracy is the People's Kurultai."